


Parallels

by Al0homora



Category: Actor RPF, Kate/Leo, Titanic (1997) RPF
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 09:33:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6149167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Al0homora/pseuds/Al0homora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate and Leo are doing a film again after seven years between now and the last. What they don't expect is for the plot line to mirror their lives so closely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I cast no aspersions onto any of the incredible actors portrayed and this is entirely a work of fiction for my own amusement.

As the alarm blares, Leo squeezes his eyes shut and grapples on the small side table for his phone to shut it off. It was currently about a quarter to seven GMT in London, which made it feel as if it should be the middle of the night in LA where he had been the day previous. He had tried to sleep on the plane over but had been entirely unable, instead using the time to send e-mails and study his scripts. That is what had brought him to London: a movie— his first crack at a romantic comedy, which he did not think would go very well. After years of playing such dramatic and political roles, he wasn’t sure if he could do romantic lead very well, and that very notion is what had finally convinced him to give it a shot. Kate Winslet, who happened to be the other lead, had mentioned that its the only role he hasn’t yet tackled, and it was her questioning of whether he was too scared to do it that made him finally give in and take the part. But then again, she always seemed to bully him into roles somehow.

And now here he is in London, in a hotel that is far too fancy, needing coffee and a cigarette desperately, and having to be in the lobby to meet with everyone in just about 45 minutes for a reading. After showering quickly, he gets dressed in jeans and a grey sweater and heads down to the lobby and out the front door, eager for a smoke before the day starts. He’s not at all surprised to see his blonde co-star outside as well, having her own quick smoke by the corner of the old brick building, head down against the cold wind. Just as every time he’s seen her in recent years, he’s caught for a moment by how well she seems to be taking to age, always looking that much better and more comfortable in her skin. 

“Hey,” he says casually, drawing even with her shoulder. “Got a light?”

She jumps slightly, looking up at him with mock anger. “Oh my god. Leo, you scared the shit out of me!”

He grins. “Nice to see you too, darling.” 

Her face softens at this, and she pulls him into a tight hug before fishing a lighter from her coat pocket. “What time did you get in?” she asks, taking another drag from her hand rolled cigarette.

“Around eleven thirty your time, but it felt like six, so I didn’t get to sleep until about four, so I’m sure the jet lag will be killing me later. Are you staying here, or did you commute in?” he asks. “How are Mia, Joe, and little Bear? Ned?”

She nods, looking sympathetic. “You’ll just have to force yourself to stay awake until tonight. You’ll regret it otherwise. The kids are fine; they’re happy I’m filming close to home for once. Bear can walk now, and is getting ready to talk. He absolutely loves that stuffed bear you sent when he was born. Its his favorite. And Ned’s alright. He’s busy pretty much all the time. I took the train in from Reading this morning, but I’ll be staying in the hotel until we go on location in Surrey at the end of the week.”

He flicks ash into the street gutter, smiling at the mention of her son loving the toy he sent. He has always loved her kids and has always felt secret pride whenever one of them would call him uncle Leo. “I’m hoping that craft service has coffee, or I’ll be pretty shit at this reading. You really think I can do it, Kate? A Rom-com? You know me, I don’t even know what real love is.”

“if you stop doubting yourself, and just fucking act, then yes. I do think you can do it, and be fantastic as well. If you keep being so indecisive and don’t just embrace the character, then no. And you’ll find someone who will break your streak of models and yachts eventually and want to settle down with kids, and you’ll thank me then.”

Leo sighs, looking ahead into the traffic on the street. “I haven’t had first day nerves like this in years,” he admits.

“Then use it,” she chips in, putting her cigarette out on the brick wall and dropping it into an ash tray. “Nancy Meyer is probably the best director there is for this genre. She won’t let you fail. Just trust her writing, and act like you would in real life if you were in these situations, and you won’t go wrong.”

“Okay. If I fail though, I’m blaming you,” he says, putting his own cigarette out and following her back inside, his hand going to her shoulder. Momentarily, he’s glad that the hotel is in a quiet area where celebrities are commonplace, as he doesn’t yet have to worry about paparazzi and the bullshit articles about ‘Jack and Rose back together,’ that would inevitably come during the press junket for the film later in the year. 

“Thats fine,” she says confidently. “You won’t fail. You’re too proud.”

 

The plot of the film is fairly simple in the way that situationally complicated rom-com plots usually go. His role is of the middle aged American staff writer in London who is bored with his life and his career and wants to pursue publishing the novels he’s been writing in his free time, but doubting that they’re any good. Hers is the unhappily married secretary who’s husband, the newspaper’s charismatic editor in chief played by Tom Hiddleston , pays her no attention, and is possibly cheating with the younger intern, played by Sophie Turner. Boy meets girl in the break room over a tearful coffee on her part, and as their friendship and interest in each other grow, both of their lives undergo drastic changes; she catches her husband cheating while walking to the local tesco and has a midlife crisis complete with crazy road trips and tattoos while having to file for divorce and custody of their two kids, and he gets a publication offer from bloomsbury, effectively meaning he can quit his job while simultaneously being offered a promotion and getting pulled into the whirlwind of her dissolving marriage. 

Kate can definitely read the part of the quirky but distraught wife well, and thankfully, after settling into the reading a bit and getting some notes from the director, Leo starts to warm up to the role as well, even ad-libbing a few lines that have both Kate and the director rolling.

About eight hours later however, and the jet lag is starting to fully set in. He can’t keep from yawning any longer, and they call it a day. Tomorrow would be full of script revisions and costuming and plan finalizations and they would all need their rest. 

As they’re rising from their seats and heading for the door, Kate catches Leo by the arm, walking with him toward the lifts. “Do you want to order room service and catch up, or are you too tired?” She asks, letting go as they step inside. 

He smiles tiredly. “I could go for a pizza and a beer. I should at least eat dinner before crashing,” he states, asking “What floor?”  
“Four,” she says, pushing the button for him. 

After a struggle to unlock the door, Kate lets Leo enter first, following, and kicking off her boots. “Make yourself comfortable. I’m just going to go change into something more human,” she says, walking toward her suitcase, pulling out a grey t-shirt and jeans and heading for the bathroom. 

Leo nods, still feeling rather bleary and delirious and walks to the window. He counts the landmarks he can identify from the view. The hotel looks over the Mews of Buckingham Palace, and he can see the tourists lining the streets to get a view of the Queen’s residence. I the distance he can see Big Ben and a bit of the London Eye. He thinks that if he looks to the west he may be able to make out the top of the Shard, but Kate is back out of the bathroom now, and handing him a room service menu. They do end up ordering pizzas; two because Kate explains that Pizza in England is significantly smaller than what he’s used to, and a bottle of Chardonnay to share. 

He has a seat in an armchair that he’s not sure has ever seen much use, and his eyes follow her as she situates herself at the head of the bed, legs stretched out in front of her, looking much more comfortable in her jeans and t-shirt as opposed to the blouse and slacks she had been wearing all day. He can’t help but take stock of changes throughout the years; wrinkles and laugh lines, the existence or non-existence of her slight belly fat, which he had always found endearing, constantly telling her when they were in their early twenties that he liked how she looked much better than any stick thin model. Not that she’d believe him after the string of rail thin beauties he was always cycling through. She’s barefoot, her toes painted a weird blue color, and she’s playing with the wedding ring on her finger, twisting it round and round. With a slight bit of pride he notices that on the ring finger of her other hand is the gift he had given her at the wrap of their last picture. 

“Nice toes,” he says, nodding to her feet and grinning a bit.

Kate looks down, confused, and then laughs. “Oh, thanks. I took Mia for a mother daughter day at the spa and told her she could pick the color for us both. I think she picked the worst one on purpose.”

“I like it,” he grins, thinking of Kate trying to protest the fifteen year old’s choice, and losing. 

“Its a bit of home, I suppose,” she says, looking out the window now herself, “A bit of her.”

“I know you always miss them when you film,” he says, receiving a nod. 

“I suppose that’s normal,” she responds. “But I always wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I know they’d be happier for me to be home all the time, but I’ve never been able to let go of the acting. It gets hard though. And now with Ned…”

Leo sits forward a bit. “Is everything alright with Ned?” he asks, his face serious. “Is he treating you well?”

He’s one of the only people to know the real details of the deterioration of her last marriage, having felt guilty for maybe playing a hand in it as well, but he knows that any man who isn’t treating Kate, his Kate, with the respect she deserves would be going immediately on his shit list. 

Her expression is far away. “Yeah, I suppose. I mean, he doesn’t shout or get violent or anything. Its just that he’s not often around. He’s so busy with work. Before we got married he was a constant, and everything I had needed after Sam, and he was so present with the kids, but now… He’s rarely home, and when he is, it feels like something he’s doing from obligation. He’s not the man I met who was literally carefree enough to change his last name to Rocknroll. And with the kids, I feel like now he’s only really interested in Bear. I get that Bear is his biological son, but Mia and Joe are just as much his children as their own fathers’.”

Kate hadn’t meant to let all that spill. He can see it on her face. About to get up to try and offer some comfort, a knock sounds at the door, so he gets that instead, thanking the bellman, and wheeling in the small silver cart with a table cloth. He parks it at the edge of the bed and uncovers two delicious looking pizzas as she scoots to the edge, sitting cross legged. As he uncorks the wine and pours two glasses, he’s having flashbacks to being twenty-two with Kate and gorging themselves on junk food in his trailer, complaining about Jim and his harsh direction on the set of Titanic. They were sequestered in remote Mexico, so at the time it had been either they became each other’s best friend and confidante, or they suffered from boredom and loneliness for eight long months. He can’t believe after so many years how important the bond they had formed then would end up being for the rest of his life. 

For a few minutes neither talk as they stuff their mouthes with food, but its helping to break the ice that always forms between visits. Now, in their casual clothes, behind the scenes of everyone and everything else, they can actually start to unwind and be themselves. Kate can be as crude as she wants, and he can return back to the prankster he’s always been, letting go of his serious exterior. Once he’s made a gross face to get a laugh from her, he knows that the next day of work would be easier. Maybe he would enjoy this role. 

“You shouldn’t feel guilty about pursuing your career, Kate. Your kids are so proud of you all the time. And knowing you you’ll be home with them every other day, and dragging me with you. You’re only, what, an hour away?”

She nods, taking a sip of her wine. 

“I just can’t help but feel guilty, you know? Its like, every time I find someone, and I think its ‘the one’ something happens to throw it off balance, and I’m fine. I’ll be fine. But I worry that all of the constant change is too much for the kids. I mean, when your twelve year old asks you why your husband is never home, and if there will be another divorce… I don’t think I can do this again, Leo. I don’t want to upset their lives again. They’re happy here. This is the longest they’ve been at one school, and I want them to be able to finish secondary school in one place and make real friends and do things like plays and sport teams, and I know that when I go home this weekend to Ned that I’ll have to bring all of this up. And I want to give him another chance, and the benefit of the doubt, but I have given people so many chances in my life, and they always disappoint me in the end.”

Leo isn’t sure what to say to that so e drinks as well, and then tries to reason out how its not so bad. 

“Its your house, right? From your last marriage? If there’s a divorce, they won’t lose their home, right? And you could still stay right where you are. It’ll be fine Kate. And maybe it is all a misunderstanding or maybe he’s going through some weird funk and he’ll get better if you mention it?”

She sighs, flopping back onto the bed to look at the ceiling. “That’s the thing. I have mentioned it and he says he’s just busy. He’ll say he misses me, and his the kids on the head and then leave for another four days. Its like he’s running on autopilot all the time and is just so distant.”

She sits up, covering her empty pizza tray, and scoots back to the middle of the bed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be dumping all this on you. Its your first day here. How are you?”

Leo’s about to protest, when he realizes that this is her way of telling him to drop the subject. He takes a bit of crust, contemplating. “I’m fine,” he says truthfully. “Things were a bit hectic after the Oscar win— thanks for being there, by the way— and then I went back to work on a climate change campaign that’s gonna launch on earth day, and then you convinced me to take this part. I haven’t really been up to much, honestly.”

She leans back on her elbows, regarding him. “Honestly?” she asks, cocking an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, honestly,” he replies, wondering what she’s trying to imply. 

“No models this month?” she asks, and he rolls his eyes.

“Just me and my dog, lately,” he replies honestly. “I’ve kind of gotten sick of the dating game. They’re all the same.”

“Maybe if you dated actual humans…” she goads, egging him on. 

“I’m just not really looking for anyone right now, Kate. Honestly, I just want to focus on my work.”

“Stop saying honestly. Its making it lose its impact.”

“Then stop interrogating me,” he laughs, tossing his napkin at her. 

“Fine, fine.” she looks at the clock, noticing that its nearing nine now. “I’ve got to call the kids before it gets too late and you should get some sleep for tomorrow,” she says, standing to push the cart out of the way. 

Leo nods, genuinely really tired, and stands, setting down his glass and pulling her into a hug. 

“I’m glad you made me take the part, Kate. I’m glad I’m here. I missed you.” 

“I missed you too, you smelly git,” she says, kissing him on the cheek. “See you in the morning.”


	2. Chapter 2

She wasn’t sure why, but she woke in a fog. At first she thought that maybe it was the change of scenery, but no, she was in a new city and a new bed often enough that that never really phased her anymore, and London wasn’t new. And then she thought that maybe it was too much wine but neither she nor Leo had more than a glass, and the rest was closed up in the mini fridge. The weather outside the window was a foggy London grey to match her state of mind: probably the kind of misty rain that stays present rather than having a start and a stop, and very suddenly she’s aching for home and for her children and husband, which was rather ridiculous. She had only left yesterday morning and shooting hadn’t even begun properly yet. The reading the day before and the talk with Leo the night before about how precarious everything felt… that must be what had her on edge, and then Mia hadn’t picked up her phone and so she couldn’t tell the kids goodnight. She wasn’t often worried over the children. They always had someone trustworthy nearby, if not family; her parents or Sam or Jim, if not Ned. It didn’t help to ease her guilt at leaving in the first place though.

Kicking back the duvet on the large down bed, she stands and makes her way toward the bathroom, searching for the hotel robe she had seen the day before. It’s half six in the morning. The sun is just starting to rise, and she still has three hours until she has to be downstairs for the start of today’s meetings and fittings and rehearsals. After wrapping the plush white robe around her body, which had been clad in only a t-shirt and underwear to sleep, she calls room service for some coffee, porridge and fruit, and unplugs her phone to go and sit in the chair near the window. 

She can tell now that it is in fact misting outside; the pavement is slick with moisture, and the people starting to emerge onto the street are all bundled in long coats and carrying umbrellas aloft like flags, creating a parade of color in the gloom. 

She dials Ned’s number, wondering just when it was that it came to the point where it felt awkward and uncomfortable to call her own spouse. She felt actual nerves, and they weren’t the good kind.

It rings once, twice, three times, and finally after the fourth there’s a groggy hello on the other end. She’s woken him up, she can tell, but she also can’t bring herself to care terribly much, as he had never responded to her calls or her goodnight text the night before, and she hadn't sent them late at all.. 

“Hello, darling. How are you?”

“Kate? Do you know how early it is?

“Yeah, its really not that early, Ned. I would have thought you would be awake by now, with the way you’re usually into the office by eight. You commute an hour, babe. Did you oversleep? Or are you just taking advantage of my being away to have a lie in?”

“Kate, please. Don’t do that.”

“Don’t do what, Ned?”

“That passive aggressive condescension thing you do when you’re cross.”

She bites her lip. She knows she’s taking the piss right now, but she’s upset, and she hadn't exactly woken on the right side of the bed. She couldn’t reach her kids or him the night before, and she knew he had been home. He could have responded before going to sleep at least, and given her a little peace of mind, but his own interests always came first nowadays. If she hadn’t been gone, he most likely wouldn’t have even been home, and that’s probably what’s more upsetting.

“Well, I am cross Ned. And I’m lonely. I tried calling last night; you and Mia, and neither of you picked up, and when you didn’t even respond to a text message what am I supposed to think? All I wanted was to wish you good night and talk to the kids for five minutes. Do you even know how Bear did in nursery school yesterday or if Joe won his football match, or ask Mia if she finished her essay? I doubt it because you’re never home long enough anymore to know about any of that.”

“Jesus, Kate. I haven’t even gotten out of bed yet and you’re starting in on me for my parenting?”

“No, I’m just calling to make sure the house is still standing. If I had gotten as much as a two word response from you last night, you wouldn’t be getting this wakeup call. Ned, I love you, but you get so wrapped up in your work or whatever else that sometimes its as if you don’t exist, or that I don't exist in your little world, and I’d just like my husband back every now and again.”

“And you don’t think I’d like my wife back? That I’d like it if you weren’t always trekking out somewhere to film every few months? Its exhausting, Kate.”

Kate pinches the bridge of her nose, willing herself to keep her temper. “That’s different, Ned. You knew when we started this what my life was like. It was never a secret that my schedule is so wavering. I’m an actress, for fuck’s sake. The kids adapt, and I adapt, and I am trying hard here to keep them in one place for the next few years. I had thought that when you married me you were promising to be there when it got hard, not just when its easy. I took this job so I could be close to home, so while I’m actually in a country where my mobile works the least you could do is respond, especially when the kids are home with you and not with their grandparents.”

There’s a knock on the door before Ned can reply, and she tells him to hold on for a second, thinking it might be breakfast service. Its not. Instead, when she looks through the peep hole on the door, she can see Leo holding two coffee cups, looking down at his shoes as he waits for her to open up. No doubt, she realizes, he had heard the tail end of what she had just been saying through the door.

She opens the door, letting Leo in, and accepts the coffee he offers with a grateful smile before putting the phone back to her ear, watching Leo as he sits on her bed, settling back to watch her.

“Sorry, Ned. I thought it was the breakfast service I ordered, but Leo’s just arrived.”

She can hear him make a noise in the back of his throat on the other end of the line, and she can almost see him rolling his eyes. “That’s another thing, Kate. I know if it weren’t for that asshole being attached to this project, you probably would have taken a gig off in Australia or wherever else and insisted on carting the rest of us with you. You’re only at home right now because its him you’re with in this stupid comedy film. And honestly, a comedy, Kate? Come on.”

“You know, the last I checked, babe, you were my husband, not my manager. I am entitled to make whatever career decisions I see fit, with or without your approval, and if I so happen to want to do a comedy over something that would likely be completely emotionally draining as usual, then that’s what I’ll do because right now this marriage is draining enough. And just so you’re aware, Leo, that asshole as you've called him, had nothing to do with me accepting this part; I was the one who bullied him into taking his role, but I would have taken it regardless, because as I said, I actually care about the wellbeing of my family and would like to give the kids the opportunity to stay here for as long as they’re finishing school, so I don’t think you have the authority to comment on what I would and would not do. I’m going to let you go, but I will be home either Friday or Saturday, and you had better tell Mia to call me when tonight she gets home from school.”

She hangs up before he can respond again, not wanting to hear it, and so beyond frustrated that she doesn’t trust herself not to completely fly off the handle and say something she would really regret. 

Leo is sitting there still staring at her, and she has to turn away. She’s embarrassed that he had just witnessed that, and embarrassed that she had been having a petty argument with Ned in the first place when she should be studying scripts and preparing for the day of pre-production ahead, but then she supposes that he had been witness to much worse arguments with Sam.

“Rough morning?” he asks, making her chuckle ruefully.

“Rough night,” she replies. She takes a sip of the coffee, sighing happily at the flavor of a soy latte with the perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg mixed in, and she’s suddenly so grateful to Leo, who over the past nearly twenty years has picked up on so many small things to do with her, like what she would order in a cafe. “Thanks for this,” she says, tipping the cup toward him in acknowledgement. 

“I didn’t think you’d even be awake yet,” he replies taking a sip of his own, “but I was wide awake at about four from jet lag so I took a jog around Green Park, and showered, and tried to run lines, but couldn’t focus, so I decided to grab us some coffee and see if you were up.”

“And you run into the tail end of an argument again,” she finishes for him, sitting back on the small armchair, bare legs curled up under her for warmth. “Really impeccable timing as usual, Leo. Contrary to what you may believe I have had rather wonderful times in my marriages as well. ”

Her tone betrays the joke of it, and he shrugs, raising his eyebrows in a boyish innocent way that reminds her of how he was when they first met. “I can’t help it. Its like I have a radar that alerts me when Kate’s about to have drama in her life that alerts me when its time to show up.”

“Ugh, and I hate it! Why can’t I just have a quiet easy time of things? You never seem to have drama for me to intrude into. Its not fair!”

“That’s because I let the women I see know upfront that I’m not after anything serious or long term. That way when things get too heavy or complicated, I'm off the hook.”

“And why is that, Leo? What scares you so much about long term prospects? I so want for you to have kids and settle down so I can spoil someone else’s children for a change.”

He grins, as if there’s a secret behind his eyes. “Because I’m happy with the way things are. I don’t need a woman to make me happy, with all of the great people in my life, and so much else in the world to worry about. The women I do see understand that its not a long term thing. And besides, I’m perfectly happy spoiling your kids and then giving them back at the end of the day.”

“I think you may drastically underestimate the feelings some of those women may have," Kate points out, raising one eyebrow at him. "And you do spoil my children, sometimes too much,” she points out. “They ask me all the time when Uncle Leo can come visit.”

“I don’t visit enough,” he says seriously, but she can also tell that he's skirting the subject of his relationships again. “I haven’t seen you since, what, February? And that was only briefly during the awards circuits. Its already April. I don’t think I’ve seen the kids since before your birthday. It was probably last summer.”

“Probably not, but trust me, the gifts you send those kids for holidays and birthdays: Its too much, Leo. That iPad for Mia at Christmas this year; Ned was furious.” she makes her voice deep to imitate her husband. “How dare he! How actually dare he out-gift me for my own family. He’s got nerve Kate. Honestly, I don’t know why you didn’t just marry him instead.”

Leo laughs, a deep-chested laugh, and takes a sip of his coffee. “Well, what are you supposed to give a fifteen year old girl when you don't know anything about makeup or clothes? I didn’t know what she was into anymore, so an iPad seemed like it would cover all the bases. And tell Joe he still needs to cash in on that promise of a basketball game next time you’re in LA.” 

His laugh makes her smile again, thinking back on how livid Ned had been. But Leo had sent ridiculous gifts to her kids every year. This hadn’t been their first Christmas together, so Ned really he shouldn’t have been surprised. She won’t tell Leo, that in her angered response she had told Ned that maybe she should have married him instead. Looking back at their whole situation, she can see Ned’s side of the issue where Leo is involved, and that perhaps he feels threatened. Certainly, Sam had. But Kate had been straightforward since the beginning about how big a part of her life Leo could be, and Leo’s presence or lack of it made no difference in how often or early Ned came home to her either way. Having been cheated on in the past made her suspicious all the time. She would really like to believe that Ned wouldn’t do that, but she had also believed that in her past relationships, so she could never be sure. 

“I’ll remind him,” she promises. “Maybe there’ll be time this summer when the school term ends, and we have to go to America for press. And speaking of press, we had better get to work reviewing lines for the read through this morning. I'm still working out what inflection I need to use for the office confrontation scene.”

There’s another knock on the door, and this time she’s sure its breakfast. Standing quickly, she makes her way to the door, thanking the service staff and carrying the small tray with breakfast inside.

“Have you eaten?” she asks Leo as she this time climbs up onto the foot of the bed to sit, careful not to spill the small french press full of coffee. 

“No. I’m going to go grab something from the lobby and get my script and I’ll be back soon,” he answers, standing again.  
———

They eat and run lines for about an hour before its time for Kate to get up and actually shower and get dressed. She’s been sitting there all this time still in just her robe and knickers, but she knows Leo could care less. They’ve both seen each other in so many compromising positions by now that her state of undress and makeup-less face was nothing Leo wasn't used to.

The read-through that day goes significantly smoother, and they find that they get along well with the rest of the cast; Tom Hiddleston as the charming and deceitful husband and boss, Penelope Wilton as the older, understanding best friend and coworker of Kate’s character, whom provides plenty of comic-relief and matronly advice, and Sophie Turner, still so young but whom impresses Kate immeasurably, as she loves working with new talent.

Even Leo, who is so completely un-used to playing the comic has begun to improvise on the script extremely well just as Kate knew he would, and is developing his character into one who is much more authentic than the on-paper version. Once they’ve run through the entire screenplay twice, they’re given notes and told that actual production would begin as early as the next week with a day of rehearsal and two days of shooting for each location and scene segment. 

Costuming is a bit of an annoyance for Kate later in the day however. The clothes aren’t a problem; she’ll mostly be in business casual outfits of her own choosing for the first half of the film, as well as a lot of jeans and sweaters, as the story is set in late fall leading to winter for a Christmas release, but hair and makeup is insisting that her hair be darker. They say that they can’t just do a wig as there is a big scene in the rain that would make a hairpiece look obviously fake. After some argument and reluctance, she begins to see their point. There's also the fact that Julia, her character, at the beginning of the film, is in a dark place. She’s depressed, and feels dowdy and frumpy and uninteresting, and is essentially a woman who is a shell of what she used to be, and so they feel as if her hair should be a mousy color to reflect how dull she feels. Eventually after some arguing, she agrees to let them dye her hair for now, but vows to talk to Nancy about writing a scene in later in the film where she shows up to work with a new brighter hair-do; a scene where Leo’s character takes notice and compliments her in front of her husband, the boss.

Finally as the day ends, Kate and Leo find themselves again in Kate’s room, changed into more comfortable clothing, and talking about what to order in for dinner.

It’s Leo’s idea to go out instead. If they go somewhere inconspicuous enough, they can avoid being recognized too much. At least, that was their hope.


	3. Chapter 3

Its a hard week of rehearsals and room service, and Kate is more than ready to go home for a long weekend and see her kids, and perhaps spend some time getting back on the same page with Ned before going back to London to begin filming for real. She expected to come home to her house empty, and slightly messy for her absence but as normal as ever, and to go and pick up the kids from school and day care and cook dinner and for Ned to arrive about half an hour later than promised and as usual full of apologies after how he’d been during their last conversation. What she does not expect is to see Ned’s car still in the drive, and to walk into the house and find baby Bear sitting in his playpen with the telly on, and even more shocking still, to find clothing strewn through the first floor hallway leading to the master bedroom: female clothing, none of which was hers. 

 

Upon reaching the bedroom door, she can hear moans and grunts, and she feels her blood run cold and her heart stop the way it does when you suddenly know something awful is about to happen; that you’re about to crash your car, or you’ve slipped and you know the impact is going to hurt, and in that awful frozen moment, she knows that she can’t bare to open that door and actually see what’s happening. And so, she finds herself turning around and walking back out to the lounge, where she picks up her toddler, balancing him on her hip, and turns the telly up, letting the sounds of Peppa Pig drown out all other noises in the suddenly much too large house. 

She knows Ned. She knows his habits, after all its been nearly six years. She knows that once he’s finished in the bedroom he’ll wander out to the kitchen for a drink of water, and so that’s where she’ll be waiting. When he does enter the kitchen, clothed at least, and thankfully not with a woman following him, he lets out an expletive of surprise. 

“Really, Ned? Are you actually serious right now? Are you seriously cheating on me with your own son in the next room?” Her voice is cold and even.

Kate has settled her son in his high chair with a snack of fins and apple juice, and is leaning against the granite countertop. 

“Kate, babe, its not what it looked like…”

“Bullshit, Ned. There was a woman’s dress and knickers in the fucking hallway!”

He has no response for that. There was really no way around it as its a true statement, so he just stares at the tiles on the floor, mollified and not meeting her eye. 

“How long?”

She’s gripping the granite, hard, trying not to betray just how hurt she really feels, that weightless, nauseating sinking feeling still in her stomach. 

‘How long, Ned?” She repeats louder. 

“Two years.”

And then the floor is seemingly falling out from under her again. Two years. That’s about half as long as they’ve been married, and longer than their son, who is looking between father and mother now, as if trying to understand what’s happening, has been alive. Suddenly she can no longer even look at the man in front of her who had meant so much in her life. 

“Get out.”

She says it quietly, and he looks somewhat stunned, although he’s still probably coming to terms with the fact that she’s even home right now in the first place. He just continues to stare at her as if he hasn’t heard, no doubt trying to think of what to say to charm himself out of this and act appropriately sorry. She can’t take his pleading expression. If he had bothered to check his messages last night he would have known she was on her way home today, and she had told him as much days ago.

“GET OUT!” She’s yelling now, finally properly furious and upsetting Bear. “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

Somewhere inside, she’s glad that it is indeed her property alone, as Leo had reminded her days ago, and she can get away with kicking him out. Unfortunately its at this opportune moment that the woman he must have been shagging decides to make an appearance, having apparently found her knickers on the way to the kitchen but still lacking a bra, and Kate can only let out a harsh laugh before picking up her son, and leaving the room in favor of the lounge, talking over her shoulder. She's pretty. Fucking hell, she's gorgeous, and thin, and Kate suddenly feels a whole new level of inadequacy.

“I swear to god, Ned, if you don’t get out of this house right now and take her with you, then you can consider the divorce papers filed already. I need at least five days to think after this, and don’t you dare try and call the kids. I’ll talk to you when I can figure out what to do about this mess you’ve made of things.”

She sits on the couch, holding her baby boy in her lap trying to soothe him, the telly still blaring, and she knows he’s confused. He understands some words by now, probably enough to grasp that she’s mad, and that mommy has told daddy to leave, but she can’t expect him to understand why. And so she just rocks him until some time later, probably enough time for that girl to locate the rest of her clothing, she hears the front door slam closed and a car starting up. She's telling her son that she loves him and that everything will be okay, even if she’s talking more to herself with the last bit. And then she sits like that for a while, trying to absorb what has just happened, and attempting to reckon with the sinking feeling still alive in her gut. Its when Bear begins to get fussy, trying to climb out of her lap and is no longer transfixed by the television that she begins to come back into herself, and in turn get really emotional and even begin to panic a bit.

Suddenly, she can’t be in this big house alone, and she can’t face her other kids with the knowledge that here was another marriage down the drain. Three kids with three husbands and going on three divorces is not a good track record. And while she is so programmed now to put the kids before her own feelings and needs, the reality that she has been cheated on really does hurt, and to know that its been going on for years behind her back…

And so she is calling Leo; one of the only real support lines she feels as if she’s had in entire her adult life.

“Leo.”

“Hey, Kate. What’s up? Are you going through the script again already?”

“No, Leo. I— Remember that time you told me that if I needed you to come, no questions asked, that you would? Well, I need you to do that now, okay?”

She can hear the confusion in his voice, and his sudden concern as he responds, slowly at first. She also knows that her tone is probably a bit desperate. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m on my way. Just, are you alright? Do you need anything?”

“Leo, no questions, right?” She says, not sure how to answer on the phone because no, she’s not alright, but its not a life or death emergency either, but she knows that so much is about to get so messed up. “I’m not physically injured or anything, just please. I need you here, alright?”

She can hear him rummaging around, and knows he must be in his hotel room. His answer still sounds concerned, but he doesn’t sound as panicked now that he knows its not a complete emergency. “Okay. I’m on my way, sweetheart. Alright? I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll call a car but it’ll probably take about an hour.”

“Thank you, Leo. I’ll explain when you get here.” She hangs up, not sure what to do with herself now. The first thing on her mind: she can't pick up her kids today and keep herself together. The second is that she absolutely cannot face going into her marital bedroom right now. The third? She really just wants to cry already, and finds that she, for whatever reason, absolutely cannot.


	4. Chapter 4

The amount of anxiety that Leo feels as he’s sitting in the chauffeured car on the way to Kate’s family home is completely throwing him for a loop. He’s so used to playing the unattached bystander to the people around him, that actually being needed by someone is a little bit scary and unnerving. The journey on the M4 highway should take about an hour and a half, but by urging on the driver he’s managed to make it in just over 50 minutes, and he’s pulling into the long gravel drive at about 1pm. 

He climbs out, paying the driver and taking his backpack which he has stuffed with some clothing, chargers, toiletries and laptop, and makes his way toward the door of the large English country style home, his curiosity at a high. He has long been the person that Kate calls when she’s upset or needs advice, but she has never sounded this desperate. Usually when she was calling upset about something or other, her emotions would betray her; she has always been quick to cry and laugh in any situation. Maybe it was that they had actually been able to spend the last week together in person, and she knows that he’s close enough to call and have there in a reasonable amount of time, but he had never expected her to make good on his promise. He had offered it as a kind of lifeline when they were finishing their press tour for Revolutionary Road. They were about to go from seeing each other every day for nearly half a year, back to only seeing each other occasionally at official events. They had grown even more impossibly close on that set, challenging each other constantly, and pushing one another emotionally and had developed even more trust in one another than they had originally had. She had been in the middle of a separation and pending divorce from her then husband and director during the press junket and through the award season that had seen her win so many times , and he knew she needed the peace of mind that knowing he would drop everything and show up if she ever asked, and he knew it worked the other way around as well.

He knocks and waits for the door to open as his car drives off. He's listening for noises and talking on the other side, but its quiet. After knocking again, and waiting, he’s about to pull out his phone and call her when the door finally opens.

Kate looks a mess, her newly dyed hair is in a frizzy brown ponytail that's half fallen down, and she has Bear on her hip. Her eyes are wide and frantic looking, and her face as pale as a sheet, and before he can say anything, she’s hugging him tight with Bear protesting in the middle. 

When she lets go, he drops his bag near the door and pulls her further into the house before taking Bear from her arms as the toddler reaches toward Leo, allowing her to stand more relaxed. 

The toddler wraps his arms around Leo’s neck as the older man holds him, positioning him on his hip as Kate had had him a moment ago, saying “hey Bear,” as the little one greets him with an excited “Uncle Leo!” in a posh little accent that makes Leo grin in spite of his worry. 

He’s looking at Kate for answers, but she just shakes her head and goes to sit in the lounge, curling up in the corner of a sofa with her feet under her. Leo settles Bear in his play pen in the middle of the floor so he can play with all his toys before he sits next to her on the couch. She’s staring straight ahead into space in a way that he has come to learn means she’s processing something and putting words together before she speaks, so he lets her take her time.

“Can you pick up Mia and Joe for me at 2:30? Its close by.” she asks, instead of offering explanation. He looks at her, eyebrow raised, before nodding slowly. 

“Sure, Kate. But are you gonna tell me why, or…?”

She sighs heavily. “I can’t face them in public, Leo, and act like everything is fine. Especially not Mia. God, its hard enough to look at Bear and know that I’ve failed him so horribly.”

“Kate, what are you talking about?”

“Ned has cheated. Or, he’s been cheating. I don’t know.” She hangs her head, and picks at a thread on the arm of the sofa, and he doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look this small and defeated. “I came home this morning, and he was here with another woman, with Bear right there in his fucking play pen. He should have been at work! Bear should be at nursery school. Thank god he dropped the other two off before picking this woman up. I- I’ve kicked him out, Leo. He told me it had been going on for two years. I kicked him out; told him I don’t want to speak to him for at least five days. But now I’ve messed everything up. I have no idea what to tell the kids this time, because I don’t want to lie, but I don’t want them hating Ned either because he’s still Bear’s father, and they’re going to be so upset that they’re losing a father figure again. Especially Mia. This has all been so hard on her, all the changes and numerous men in and out of her life and I know she blames me for it. And filming— Leo I don’t know if I can go back to work on Monday. There’s so much going on, and the script is just too close to home this, Leo. I can’t.”

She’s beginning to get hysterical and Leo can do nothing but try and bring her back to earth a little bit, even though he himself is fuming over Ned hurting her like this.

“Kate, don’t worry about work right now, alright? There are more important things.”

She nods, still not looking him in the eye. Her breathing is still much faster than he’d like, and he takes her hand, squeezing it once. 

“Look at me, Kate. You need to take a deep breath. Breathe. We’ll figure everything out.”

She looks up at him, and her eyes are still wide, her expression one of actual fear. “Mia and Joe are going to hate me,” she says, still not trying to calm her now erratic breathing. 

Leo sits forward, right in her line of vision, locking eyes with her. “Sweetheart, listen to me. Those children love you so much, okay? They always will, and they’ll understand that none of this is your fault. You need to breathe. Come on. I don’t want you going into a panic attack, alright? Just breathe with me.”

He coaches her through breathing for a few minutes until he’s satisfied that its at least more steady than it had been, before speaking again.

“Kate, I’ll go and pick the kids up, and I’ll bring Bear with me and take then to eat or get ice cream or something, to give you a chance to calm down and think for a bit, alright? But those kids are smart. They’ll know that if I’m the one getting them from school, that something is going on, and with the state you’re in right now I don’t think we can play it off as just a normal surprise visit from Uncle Leo. They’ll notice when Ned doesn’t come home tonight. You’re going to have to tell them what’s going on when we get back.”

She nods, and he can see now that she’s actively trying to calm her breathing. 

“I know you’re right. They’re going to know that something is going on. I— can you do something else for me before you leave to get them?” She’s looking away again, looking almost hesitant to ask, but he nods anyway, knowing that he wouldn’t deny doing anything she needs right now.

“I can’t go into my room right now. I can’t face it yet. Could you… could you just go in and grab the sheets from the bed to wash?”

“Yeah, Kate. Whatever you need.” He means it. He’s here and will do whatever she needs for the next few days, or until she tells him to go back to the hotel. Her unsteady breathing and lack of usual emotional response is unnerving him, and he knows she’s still in shock over everything and not processing what’s really happened, and all of the consequences yet, but she’ll really have to face things one at a time until she can get her head around it all. He’s so unbelievably angry at Ned for doing this, and he’s not sure that he himself has really grasped all of the changes this will cause in Kate’s life, and he’s definitely not prepared to suddenly feel so invested in it all, somehow more than he had the last time she had gone through a divorce, if divorce is really what’s on the horizon right now, because that is entirely up to Kate, no matter what his opinion is. Right now, however, he doesn’t even feel guilty for hoping it will mean divorce because he is so incredibly livid that a man could do this to her and those children again, seemingly without a real care.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate is off in her own head until Leo gets back. She’s managed to switch the sheets and duvet cover from the washer to the dryer, but still doesn’t particularly want to face her room yet, and so she had folded them into a basket. What she really needs is to have a shower and to eat something, but she has yet to do that either. Her mind has just been replaying the past four years of marriage, and even before, looking for signs that could have tipped her off to what was going on, or things she could have done wrong to bring it about, but she hasn’t come up with much. She’s always felt as if she’s been a very attentive girlfriend and spouse, and while yes, she had taken several roles in the past few years that required her to travel, she had never been away from the kids for more than a week or two without having a break, or flying them out as well, and the same goes for Ned. He’s never really complained about her schedule because most of the time he can telecommute, not until recently, and now she’s wondering if perhaps her being away and making him come along has forced time away from this other woman and that’s what his recent anger over her work has been about. The whole idea is even more infuriating; that he could be blaming and punishing her for making his extramarital affair more difficult.

He’s been coming home later, and sometimes not at all, which really should have been a tip off, but she hadn’t expected him to actually be cheating. She had suspected it of her past husbands, wrongly. While they had both become close to other women towards the end of their marriages, neither had ever truly cheated and had been rather upfront with her about their feelings. Her first two real boyfriends had cheated, however, and that had left her with a bruised ego, and paranoid for life, but really, Ned, who was so devoted, was the last one she had believed actually would, and yet here they were. She wasn’t even sure how she was supposed to face him again when all she could think of was that woman’s smug face when she had realized that Kate was home, and how beautiful she had been.

Its much later she hears Leo pull her car into the driveway again outside, she’s still not sure what to tell the kids, if anything yet. She doesn’t want to mention divorce with things not fully decided, and doesn’t want them hating Ned either. She doesn’t have much time to think about it however, because the door is opening, and Joe is running into the house, backpack bouncing on his back, with Mia right behind. Leo follows up the rear, a sleepy looking Bear riding piggy-back.

“Mum!” Joe exclaims, bouncing somewhat on his heels, his converse trainers untied under his school uniform pants. “Uncle Leo said that we might be going to visit him in California this summer and we can go to a basketball game!”

She can’t help but smile at his excitement, looking up at Leo, who shrugs. 

“Yeah, Joe. He promised you a game for Christmas, didn’t he? When this film finishes, your uncle Leo and I will have to go to California for some work, so I thought maybe we could make it a vacation for us all.”

Joe exclaims his excitement again before bounding off to his room. Kate takes Bear, who looks about ready for bedtime, from Leo’s shoulders, and begins to walk towards the kids’ rooms as well. Leo, and Mia, who’s still being quiet, follow.

Once Kate is finished pulling Bear’s pajamas from his dresser drawer and changing the toddler, her daughter speaks up, intuitive that not everything is okay. 

“Mum, I need to talk to you after Bear is in bed,” the young teen says, looking very serious, and very much like a young Kate with her shoulder length blonde hair. “Away from Joe and Uncle Leo.”

Kate raises an eyebrow at her daughter, who surprises her from time to time with how grown up she acts, and nods her head. “Go make us some tea and I’ll meet you in the lounge,” says Kate, who’s now trying to wrestle Bear’s chubby legs into PJ pants. The young girl nods and leaves the room, dumping her backpack in the hallway as she goes.

“I think she suspects that something is up,” Leo whispers to Kate. “She was quiet through dinner. I couldn’t even get her to talk about the play she’s in, and she’s usually asking me all kinds of acting questions when she sees me.”

Kate nods, letting out a long sigh, still unsure of what to do about all of this. 

“Go talk to her,” Leo offers. “I’ll get this one into bed and then go work on responding to some e-mails.” 

He takes the toddler’s hand and walks him to the bathroom to finish getting him ready, leaving Kate to go talk with her daughter. 

Mia is in the kitchen, pouring water from a kettle into two mugs, brewing tea; the ever English response to any kind of uncomfortable situation or anxiety. 

Kate takes hers, adding a little milk and sugar to both before leading the way into her office, rather than the family sitting room, where its not likely that Joe or even Leo will overhear the two of them.

“What’s going on, Mia?” She asks, taking a seat on a small couch that’s pushed to one wall, where she usually goes when she needs to read through her scripts and get work done uninterrupted. The room is entirely her space, away from kids and husband and the rest of it.

The teen sits as well, curling her feet under her in a way that reminds Kate of herself. She’s still in her navy blue skirt from school, but has partially unbuttoned the pale blue shirt and loosened her tie. The young girl had just recently been getting into makeup, and has a bit of eyeliner smudged around her eyes rather messily, and Kate thinks briefly that she’ll have to give her daughter some lessons soon. 

“I didn’t call and tell you last week because I didn’t want to worry you while you were working, but there’s something you should know about Ned,” she says, looking down at her hands on the steaming mug. Kate’s heart hammers.

“I’m sorry, Mum. I shouldn’t have done it, but I was mad at him.”

“Mia, what are you talking about?” she asks, confused. “What did you do?”

“He— he took my phone away last week because he caught me on it speaking to a friend after he told us to go to finish our coursework and go to sleep. That’s why I missed your call last Monday night. Anyway, the next day he wasn’t awake yet and I needed to go to school and didn’t want to leave it home in case you called or there was an emergency, so I went into your room to get it back, and his was lighting up on the charger next to it with text messages, so I looked, thinking it was probably you.” 

She looks both apologetic and scared, and Kate is beginning to understand where this is going. Especially thinking back to her rather rude wake up call to Ned on the Tuesday morning that she’s talking about, and how she had been surprised that Ned was still asleep past six thirty. 

Mia rushes the next part, still looking down at her lap. “I’m so sorry, mum. I shouldn’t have read them, but I can’t not tell you. It was a bunch of texts from some lady named Maggie: plans about meeting up during the week, and when i opened the conversation I saw that he was saying some pretty bad things about you, mum. He— I think maybe he’s seeing someone else.”

“He is,” Kate says, tone even, and expression far away. 

Mia looks up then. “You know?” she asks, looking confused. 

“Yes. Thank you for telling me, though, Mia. Really. I appreciate you being honest with me, and I want to be honest with you. I— well, I found out this morning. I got home and he had another lady over. I’ve told him I don’t want him around for a few days so I can figure out what to do. That’s why Leo here and picked you up today. Well, that and he wanted to visit with you kids.”

“Mum, I’m so, so sorry.” Mia says, looking unsure of what to do.

“I’m sorry too, love. I don’t know what to do, because of you kids. I don’t want to break up our home again. Its so unfair.”

“Its unfair of him to fucking cheat on you, Mum! That’s what’s unfair.”

Kate has to laugh at that, amused that her daughter is outwardly angrier than she herself has the energy to be. “Mia, language!” She scolds, but her daughter know’s she’s not really mad. She’s learned by now that there’s a time and a place for swearing around her mother, and as long as its not near Joe or the baby, or anyone important, that her mother doesn’t really care, as she curses like a sailor herself.

“You’re right.” Kate concedes. “That doesn’t make it any easier though, I’m afraid. Mia, I want to keep this between us for now,” she says, sweeping a piece of hair from her daughter’s eyes. “No telling Joe yet. I want to do that in my own time.”

Mia nods. “How are you so calm about this?” she asks, leaning her head on her mother’s shoulder. 

“I’m not,” Kate says, honestly. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. You should have seen me earlier though. I was actually screaming at him.”

Mia giggles, and then turns serious. “Are you going to get another divorce?” She asks.

“I don’t know, Mia. I really don’t know yet. I can’t face talking to him just yet, so I don’t want to make any decisions.”

“Okay.” The young girl concedes before standing to head for the door. “I think I’m going to take a bath and read before bed.”

“Okay” Kate replies. “Sleep well, darling” She leans forward to kiss Mia’s forehead, not moving to stand up like the young girl. “If you find Leo, can you send him in here?”


	6. Chapter 6

At Leo’s insistence, Kate eats a small meal, and goes to have a shower and change. While she’s in the hall bathroom, he takes the time to find a different set of sheets in a linen closet, and re-makes Kate’s bed, hoping that the change of color will help, and he cleans up the room a bit, putting everything that is obviously Ned’s in an empty box before shutting that in a closet. 

Its an odd thing, being in Kate’s actual bedroom. He’s always visited her in hotel rooms, or she would stay over at his home, and the one time he had visited her here a few years ago he had never gone into her room; it was her room with Ned, a personal space, and he had kept to the guest room and lounge, as you would in anyone’s house when you’re a guest. Her room though felt familiar somehow. Just in the way that Kate had scattered little trinkets and papers around her trailer during Titanic, her bedroom was much the same way. There were little mementos of her travels, and little framed doodles from the kids; really, just stuff sitting around that held sentiment, and it made Leo think of how bare and plain his house is. He’s got his office which holds a few things things from travels, and his fossil collection, and some environmental art, but a lot of the house was as it would be if it were still a show house. He did collect things, but he had never displayed them. There was a feeling he couldn’t shake that it was too personal, and he had a hard time inviting others into his personal world. He’s starting to think that maybe he needs to focus on making it more of a home. Maybe he needs to actually take some time for himself in the coming years and build a space that’s comfortable. Or maybe he needs to invest in some therapy to help with his issues with personal boundaries. 

“Leo?” He can hear Kate calling his name from the hallway.

“In here!” he calls, leaning down to get a closer look at a small framed photo of Kate and her kids in some kind of tropical setting. Bear is still a baby in the picture, and Mia looks about thirteen, Joe around ten. 

“Australia,” she says, coming to stand next to him. “About a year and a half ago. Ned was gone for the day and I didn’t have to work, so I took the kids to do a zip line course in the Gondwana rainforest in Queensland as a break from the desert. My agent took the photo.”

He smiles at the explanation, and looks over the rest of the photos on the dresser top. Some of Kate and her kids, some of just the kids, some with other family, and even one with him and the kids from their time on Revolutionary Road. None, however, display any of her husbands, and he thinks better than to mention it, trying not to feel smug over being included in her private photo collection. 

“I found an extra set of sheets in the hall closet,” he says gesturing to the bed. 

“Thanks,” she sighs, sitting down on the edge. She has a balled up pile of clothes in her arms that she throws across the room, aiming for a hamper sitting in the corner by the ensuite bathroom door. Most go in, and Leo reaches down to toss in the sock that misses..

“It’s weird,” she says, looking around the room herself. “This is my bedroom. It was my room before Ned came along, and its my room at the moment, but when I’m gone, when its just him here, it becomes his room for a little while, and every time I come back and it hasn’t been tidied yet, it feels like his room; like I’m intruding. Its ridiculous. Its my house for god’s sake. But then today, I figured out why. When I’m gone, it is his room; and the idea that he was in here with another woman, doing I can only guess what, while my photographs hang from the walls… it just felt so off. I couldn’t look at the mess in here and know that I didn’t create it. So, thanks,” she says, gesturing to the bed. “Thanks for doing this.”

Leo nods, giving a sad smile. He can understand everything she’s just said. He himself wasn’t even sure he was allowed in here, but he’s feeling more comfortable now that she’s here too. “it’s no problem, Kate.”

She scoots up the bed to sit back against the pillows, cozy in a pair of yoga pants and a big t-shirt. “I’m sorry I pulled you into my mess again,” she says, looking guilty. Her wet hair, now an odd brassy brown is hanging messily around her face, and he wants to reach out and push it away but doesn’t.

He shrugs, walking closer, debating on whether he can sit down next to her, and does it anyway, kicking off his shoes so he doesn’t get the duvet dirty. “You know, our friendship has survived situations a lot worse than this. It’s really fine. I’d rather be here than hear about it all later. I’m glad you called me.”

Kate nods, smiling a bit as some as she recalls some of their more awkward moments throughout the years; being 20 and flashing him in her dressing room when they first met, having to pose nude on a couch for hours in front of Leo and a camera crew, being directed in multiple love scenes by her ex husband, and the numerous press interviews in which it was always implied that maybe there is something more between them. It was all stuff to laugh about; both then and now, and it makes her glad that all of it made her friendship with Leo stronger, when it could have very easily put them both off of each other very quickly. 

She looks around the room, large and empty, and suddenly knows she doesn’t want to be alone at the moment. “Can you stay in here with me tonight?” She asks hesitantly. “I know its weird, but I really just don’t want to be by myself. I did entirely too much thinking earlier.”

“Sure, Kate. Whatever you need.”

————

It’s about four thirty am, and Kate isn’t sure what had jolted her awake, but she’s sitting up straining her ears for anything sounding off in the house; worried that maybe Bear had awoken in the night and might need something. 

Leo is sleeping soundly on the other side of the bed, his back to her, but his snores an odd comfort to Kate, and after a few minutes of listening and hearing nothing out of the ordinary, she rolls over, and goes back to sleep. 

She must have only just nodded off again, when she’s awoken by a voice; an angry voice, and she’s groggy and trying to comprehend, and then suddenly she is fully aware of who it is. 

“Jesus Christ, Kate! You haven’t even waited one day?”

She sits up. Ned is standing halfway between the door and the bed, glaring down at her, and Leo, who has stirred behind her and is now sitting up as well. From Ned's wild hair and tired eyes, she suspects he might be drunk.

“Ned?” She asks, still trying to understand the situation. “What the hell are you doing here!?” She’s half whispering, half shouting, trying desperately not to wake the children, but Ned had just been so loud that it was probably futile. She switches on her bedside lamp to see him better. 

“Well, Kate, since you kicked me out in such haste, it turns out that I left my laptop here with all of my work, so I’m just here to collect it so I can keep earning a paycheck to feed your kids.” He says her name with so much venom that it actually stings a bit. “I didn’t think I’d arrive home and find you already in bed with another man. It never took you very long though did it. I should have guessed it’d be him,” he juts his chin toward Leo, whom she can practically feel bristle with anger behind her. 

“Hold on a goddamn minute,” Leo is starting now, about to defend Kate, but Ned interrupts. 

“I should have fucking known, Kate. I really should have known. I mean he’s there for your entire last divorce, practically acting the catalyst, and then he walks you down the aisle at our wedding, which if you ask me is just fucking weird, and you never stop gushing over him, telling everyone who’ll listen how brilliant he is; its always been so fucking glaringly obvious that you’re in love with him; I had no choice but to find someone of my own because you were NEVER FUCKING PAYING ATTENTION!”

It’s Kate’s turn to glare, and Leo swears that he’s never seen such anger and hatred in her gaze, thank god its not directed at him. And obviously she’s over trying to keep quiet now, as when she responds, its loud. Very loud.

“How dare you?” Her voice is low and dangerous. “How fucking dare you. I come home to spend a weekend with my family, and maybe try and salvage this crumbling fucking marriage, and I find you in bed with another woman with our son in the next fucking room! Come to find out that its been going on behind my back for years— apparently since before you got me pregnant. I loved you so much, Ned. I thought I had finally found someone who could understand me, and actually act like a gentleman while having passions of their own, and you ruined it all in one afternoon, so don’t you dare try and blame this on Leo. He has nothing to do with any of this. He’s my best friend in the world; has been for nearly twenty years, and when I needed consoling because my husband has cheated and gone off with another woman half my age, he came without questioning it. So exactly where do you get off blaming him for this?”

“He’s in bed with you, Kate! Our bed!” Ned shouts back, taking a step forward in his anger. 

“My bed,” she responds sternly. “You lost the privilege of calling it yours the minute I walked in the door this afternoon. “And yes, he is. Fully clothed, by the way, both of us, and fucking sleeping because I didn’t want to be alone today! What fucking time is it anyway?”

Ned angrily rakes a hand through his hair, and Leo stands up, mumbling something about how this whole thing is ‘bullshit.’ He walks toward the closet where he had shoved everything that looked like it was Ned’s and pulls the box out, setting it in front of Ned. 

“Here’s your shit. All the electronics I could find, so I suggest you grab it and go before you make it worse for yourself,” says Leo, because honestly, all he wants is for this to end. He just wants Ned to leave so that Kate can calm down. He’s seen her angry and upset before, and this overshadows all of those times. 

Ned looks from Leo, to Kate, and back, blinking, before walking toward the box and Leo who is standing with hair mussed from sleep, and arms crossed, looking exceedingly grumpy. In a moment that neither Kate nor Leo sees coming, Ned’s fist is colliding squarely with Leo’s left eye, pushing the older actor backwards with the force and making him stumble and hit the dresser, and suddenly there’s a shout then from the doorway that drowns out both Kate’s gasp as she jumps up from the bed, and Leo’s grunt of pain and surprise. 

“I hate you!” It’s Joe yelling from the doorway, face bright red and tears streaming down his cheeks, his sister trying to hold him back by the arms, as he continues shouting. “I hate you! I hate you!” They can now hear Bear crying down the hallway. He’s still got railings on his training bed, so he’s not easily able to climb out. It takes everyone a moment to figure out that Joe’s anger is directed toward his step-father. 

“Joe!” Kate’s tone is admonishing. She understands the boy’s sentiment on a base level, but she had so wanted to calmly explain everything to her son; not have him find out like this, and she just wants everyone to stop yelling. 

She looks up at Mia, who is now hugging her brother’s shoulders from behind as the boy stops struggling. “How long have you lot been standing there then?” she asks, going toward her children. She pulls Joe towards her and the twelve year old buries his face in her shoulder as she glances back at Ned with a glare, who is holding his fist, probably having hurt his knuckles, and at Leo, who has taken a step back from the other man to lean against the wall, his hand pressed to his cheekbone which is bleeding a little. 

“We heard yelling,” the fifteen year old responds. “The door was open. We heard you yelling at him for cheating on you.”  
Her daughter is looking at Ned now, talking to him instead of Kate. “Its not fair, you know. We all trusted you.”

Kate can’t help but look up at her daughter at this, because of the truth of her statement. There are tears in the teenager’s eyes, and for the first time all day she feels tears beginning to well in her own. Her daughter had trusted him; they had all trusted him, and here they were, all betrayed again, and it was really so unfair. She kisses her son’s forehead, and her daughter’s before turning around to face her soon to be ex-husband.

“I can’t do this, Ned. I can’t even begin to think about trying to talk this one out. I need to protect my kids and keep them happy, and that’s not going to happen with you in the picture. Grab what you need and leave. My lawyer will contact you in a day or two with the divorce paperwork.”

The brunette man is staring at her now with a stunned expression, rather than angry, and at least he has the dignity to look sorry now. Wordlessly, he reaches into the box on the floor and takes the pile of electronics; computer, chargers, iPad. With a nod toward Kate, and not even a glance back toward Leo, he’s leaving, and suddenly everyone feels like they can expel a breath. 

 

It’s quiet for a few minutes; Kate is hugging her children, and just breathing, trying to calm down, and Leo isn’t sure what to do. When there’s another wail from down the hallway in Bear’s room, the quiet is once again broken, and she’s pulling back from her kids. 

“Mia, will you get Leo a bag of ice for his eye, please?” She asks her daughter. “I need to go check on Bear.”

She walks out of the room, not waiting for a reply, and heads towards the two-year-old’s room. Her son is standing, holding onto the edge of the bed’s railing, obviously frustrated that he can’t get down on his own. When he sees his mother his crying ceases, and he reaches up his chubby hands towards her, allowing her to pick him up, and she does so, cradling him on her hip and bouncing him slightly, shushing him. He calms down now that he has a familiar face within view, and she walks back into the hallway, where she finds Joe staring down at his feet, looking very forlorn, and guides him toward the kitchen where Mia and Leo have gone. 

Ever English, the first thing she does after settling Bear into his high chair, is switch on the kettle. She needs tea, and the others could probably use some as well. While its boiling, she goes to Leo, taking the bag of frozen peas that her daughter had found from his hands so she can have a look at his eye, which is already swelling near to closed, the small cut below it no longer bleeding but looking very irritated. 

“I’m so sorry, Babe,” she says, frowning. 

Leo shrugs. “You didn’t know he’d show up. I’m actually kind of impressed at how strong he is for such a scrawny guy.”

She chuckles, glad that Leo has his joking attitude as always, and at least that he isn’t angry at her. She turns towards her older children, who have settled at the kitchen table, heads on hands looking very tired. 

“I’m sorry that everything is going to get disrupted again,” she says, hoping to convey how genuinely apologetic she really is. She knows that Mia already knew what was happening, but this was all a surprise for Joe, and she hadn’t expected such a heated reaction from her even tempered first son. Joe was very like Sam, her ex, in that he was usually very hard to anger, but when he did reach a boiling point he was also very hard to calm back down. 

“Do we have to move again?” Joe asks, “Do we have to change schools?”

Kate shakes her head. “No. This is our house and we're staying here. I’ll figure out a way for you both to stay at school. I’ll quit or postpone this film if I need to. I’m just so sorry, darlings, that you’re going through another one of my divorces.”

Its Mia who speaks up now. “Mum, we just want you to be happy. If Ned is cheating on you, then you shouldn’t be with him.”

She nods. She’s often glad that her oldest is turning out to be so wise. “I don’t want you hating him, though. I’m sure he has his reasons for being with this other woman. He’s still your brother’s father. “ She glances at her youngest, glad that he’s still too young to really understand what’s going on. 

“I do hate him,” Joe says then, looking angry again. “He hurt you. I trusted him, and he hurt you.”

Kate sighs. “You’re allowed to be angry, Joe. I’m angry, too, but I don’t hate him. You have to understand that he’ll still be around sometimes, just like your dad and Mia’s father.”

“But they didn’t cheat!” Joe exclaims, his temper flaring up again. 

It’s Leo who speaks next. “Joe, you’re right. They didn’t. And you are allowed to be angry at Ned, but remember, when people cheat, they’re usually cheating because they are unhappy. You don’t have to like Ned, but he’s not going to disappear forever. Just try and remember when you do see him that he hurt you and your mum because he’s already hurting. You may never know why, but if you remember that, it’ll help. That’s what I did when I was your age and my parents split up.”

Joe seems to consider this and relent a little bit. “I’m allowed to be angry?” he asks.  
Kate nods. “You’re allowed to be angry.”


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the household is quiet again. Its a Saturday, so there is no school, and Kate had told the kids to go back to sleep for a few hours. She definitely needed the rest as well. She has re-locked the doors after Ned's departure, and has followed Leo back to her bedroom, secretly glad that he had chosen to go back there on his own rather than move to the guest room where his things already are. He’s standing in her ensuite bathroom now, inspecting the damage Ned had done to his eye, which is swollen and purpling with a raised welt and scab on his cheekbone as well where Ned's wedding ring must have cut into his cheek. Kate knew that if it hadn’t been for Joe yelling out when he did, that Leo would have likely landed a blow on Ned as well, and she’s not sure if she’s glad that he didn’t, or disappointed. 

“Unless they write a fist fight into the script, this will put off filming for a bit, at least until it fades enough to cover with makeup,” Leo comments, leaning in close to the mirror to inspect the broken blood vessels in his left eyeball, which are only making the iris look even more blue. 

Kate frowns, making brief eye contact with him in the mirror from where she’s standing in the doorway. 

“I’m sorry, Leo. This is all such a mess.” She's biting her lip and looks so remorseful that Leo can barely stand it.

The older blonde turns toward her, and in an act that just seems completely natural despite how often he shies away from affectionate contact with anyone, he’s wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her into his tall frame so that her head fits nestled in his neck. She can’t help but relax slightly in his grip and breathe in the scent of his cologne and aftershave from the previous morning mixing with a scent that she’s only ever been able to describe as belonging to Leo. Its a scent that hasn’t changed at all in the last twenty years, and reminds her of late nights filming in cold hydraulic tanks and hanging from wires in freezing night air clutching cigarettes, and collapsing exhausted together on dressing room couches awaiting their next call time, and autumn visits in New York full of equally late nights and wine and laughs, and all of the countless times he had protectively wrapped these same arms around her at press junkets and award shows as if he's so proud to be next to her, when she feels like it should be the other way around, and its the arm that had walked her down the aisle four years ago, and the same old comforting scent. She has found, oddly, that this comforting scent has always been more distinct to her than that of any of her previous husbands or lovers, and she tries not to think of what that means. 

“How many times do I have to keep telling you, Kate? Stop saying sorry. None of this is your fault.”

She shrugs under his arms, answering into the fabric of his t-shirt. “Until I actually listen. I guess apologizing is in my British nature.”

She pulls her head back and wraps her arms around his waist, looking up at him, wincing a bit at just how swollen his eye is. “I don’t really know if I’m up to filming this one at all now,” she says truthfully, “But either way I guess we’ll have to make a call to Nancy and the rest of the production staff and at least get it postponed for a week or two until your eye heals and I can finalize this divorce. It'll be a trick keeping it out of the tabloids.”

“Kate, if you want to call it off, I won’t blame you. You’ve got more than enough on your plate.”

Kate sighs. “I know. I know you won’t. I’ll blame myself though. There are other actors and production staff counting on this job. I can’t just shut the whole thing down because I’m not emotionally stable. If anything, they can just find a replacement for my part.”

Leo frowns then. “I’m not playing this role unless its opposite you, so they’d have to replace me as well.”

Kate scoffs, but doesn’t argue. She knows he’s speaking the truth; he really would drop out entirely if she did. 

“That settles it,” she groans. “I’ll finish the thing, if only because of the amount of time it took to talk you around to it in the first place.”

Leo backs up, looking a little annoyed now. “Don’t push yourself to do it if you don’t think you’re up to it, Kate.”

She sighs and nods, backing down from her own stubborn streak. “We’ll call them and ask for three weeks. If I still don’t want to after that, then I won’t, okay? Plus, I need to figure out how the kids can stay in school here without a second person around to look after things. I don't want to have to get them placed somewhere in London. That just wouldn't be fair. And now Mia's got this part as Juliet and Joe is getting into Rugby...” 

Leo nods, appeased for the time being, and heads back into her bedroom. She watches him hesitate for just a moment before shrugging to himself and climbing back into her bed, scooting to the far side. Seeing him settle down, she begins to feel very tired herself, and joining him feels almost automatic. 

———

It was around six am when they had gone back to bed, and now that she’s waking up she can tell by the amount of light she can sense through closed eyes that its late morning. She knows that she should get up and try to get things done, but she’s so warm and comfortable right where she is that she never wants to move. She can hear a television on somewhere in the house, and the distant laughter of her two older children, which makes her smile. Where she’s laying she reaches out an arm, expecting to feel the warm body of her husband next to her, but when she’s greeted by empty sheets, she suddenly remembers the day before and the traumatic early morning. 

Opening her eyes, she can see the indent in the sheets from where Leo had slept and then pulled the blankets over her again after leaving the bed. His watch is sitting on her bedside table, and she leans over, grabbing it to check the time; 11:23. She sets it back down, and sits up, taking a deep breath and pushing her hair away from her face. 

A few moments later she’s entering the kitchen, unable to keep the smile from her lips at the sight of all three of her kids sitting at the small table, or in Bear’s case, in a high chair, as Leo stands at the stove, flipping pancakes, apparently keeping the kids very amused with one of his crazy stories complete with different voices and accents. 

When he turns around and sees her standing in the doorway, he just offers a nonchalant “Hey, Kate,” before returning to his work cooking breakfast and telling Joe and Mia about the time his plane exploded on the way to Russia; a story that Kate herself had been in tears of laughter at on the phone a few years prior. 

She wanders over to the coffee maker, desperate for caffeine, and settles next to her son at the table after kissing each kid on the forehead in turn, happy to let Leo make work of taking the tense atmosphere off of the household. 

This view, of Leo making himself at home in her home, and of her kids being held in rapt attention as he dramatically tells story after story, putting on voices for emphasis, it all feels so normal and comforting to her. Her only misgiving now, is in wondering how long this calm can last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who continues to read! I can't promise that updates will be very close together, but the story won't be abandoned. Comments and kudos keep me going, as always! <3


	8. Chapter 8

“You’re allowed to be angry, too, you know.” 

Leo has found her in her little office. He guesses that it's probably the only space that is all her own; not affected by memories of Ned. She has just gotten off of the phone, he’s not sure who with, and she has a very grim expression. 

She’s sitting on a small grey couch, and he sits next to her, this time not hesitating in pulling her into his side with one arm. She heaves a sigh so deep that he can feel it and sinks into his shoulder, still holding a likely cold cup of tea in one hand and her cell in another. 

“I don’t know what makes me angrier,” she replies; “The fact that he cheated, or that he had the audacity to be angry that you’re here right now. Honestly, what did he expect? I walked in to enjoy a weekend in my own house and found him with that woman… and Bear!…And that comment about needing to earn a paycheck to feed MY kids! My kids have never wanted for anything in their lives, and I have been the one to make sure of it.”

“You’re a great mother,” Leo responds. “You always have been, from day one. That’s not something you ever need to worry about.”

“I do worry. I feel like acting puts a strain on things with the kids from time to time. They didn’t ask to have this weird nomad lifestyle and its not fair to them, but I'm trying to fix that.”

“Exactly, you’re trying to fix it. Plus, I’ve never heard them complain; I mean look at all of the experiences they’ve had... all the cities they’ve been able to see and the people and places. They have experiences that most people only dream of, and they have you to thank for that, Kate.”

“I know. I know, I know, but I’m afraid they haven’t had enough normality.”

“You’ve been living here for about two years now. That seems pretty stable to me. You’ve just got a different job than most moms.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

They’re both quiet for a few minutes, each in their own thoughts. 

“I just got off of the phone with my lawyer. She should be arriving in the evening with the paperwork. Thank god we did a prenup. Plus I don’t think there will be any damages to pay or anything. I don’t think Ned is going to be an asshole about any of this since he knows its his fault.”

Leo nods. “What about Bear?”

“He’ll be allowed to see Bear whenever he wants as long as he stays reasonable with everything. I don’t want to go through a custody battle like I did with Jim. Bear can have time with his dad just like the other kids do with theirs, but I'm not having my family split up, so there will be none of that every other week shit. Everything will get figured out.”

“Have you called Nancy or your PA yet?” He asks as she leans forward to set down the tea and phone. 

“No,” she leans her head back on his shoulder, looking up to the ceiling. “I was waiting for you. We can do a conference call with Nancy to explain and then I'll call my assistant separately.” She looks to his face again, looking at his eye, which is less swollen now that a few hours have passed, but still very purple and angry with a bit of a scab forming on his cheekbone. 

Leo nods, and fishes his phone from his pocket, sitting up properly. He dials the number for their director and producer, putting it on speaker phone and setting it on the table in front of them.

“Hello?” There’s a kind voice on the other side of the line. He may have only met Nancy a little over a week ago, but she was endearing and kind, and he felt that both he and Kate could just be honest with her.

“Hey Nancy, It’s Leo and Kate. I’m so sorry to call like this but some things have come up that we need to discuss with you.”

There’s a slight pause, before she responds. “Is everything alright?”

“Unfortunately not,” he answers, looking to Kate, who is biting her lip.”We thought you should hear it directly from us, however. You see, Kate, uh—“

Kate interrupts him. “There has been a bit of drama at home, unfortunately, Nancy,” Kate says. “ I came home yesterday to find my husband with another woman.”

“Oh, my dear…” The older director responds.

“Leo came to cheer me up and help with the children, and there was a bit of an accident. Oh this is embarrassing…” she leans forward, putting her elbows on her knees, and pushes her hair from her face, looking stressed. “Long story short of it, my husband may have given Leo a black eye, and now I’m filing for a divorce, so I guess what I’m trying to figure out is how to proceed with this film. I was wondering if maybe we could both get a few weeks to get sorted, and let Leo’s eye heal and things calm down a bit?”

The explanation sounds ridiculous, and Kate and Leo both know that it kind of is, but Nancy is so kind about it.

“Oh, not a problem! Honestly, if you’re up for it, I’d rather push production back and go ahead with you two as the leads rather than re-cast. although if you no longer feel up to the project I completely understand. We can give you a month for now and then reassess? Just have your assistants be in touch and we can get it all figured out. You focus on yourselves for now and don’t worry about a thing. We’ll go ahead and film all of the secondary scenes and finish it up when you’re ready.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Nancy. I really appreciate it. You have no idea how much this helps.” Kate looks visibly calmer now.

“Don’t even think on it,” the director responds. “You’ve got a lot on your plate. Don’t let a silly romance film weigh on your mind. And Leo, you just rest up and take care of that injury. Keep me updated.”

They finish out the phone call, and Leo presses end, feeling much more calm himself as he leans back in the sofa. They have a month now. 

 

Kate returns home from a meeting at her lawyer’s office in London about a week later feeling exceptionally tired. It had been a meeting with Ned and his lawyer today, and while he hadn’t acted in the same manner as the last time she had seen him, it still hadn’t been pleasant. They had both sat through the legal jargon, nodding at points and making comments from time to time, and then signed the papers that meant they were now legally divorced. They had not however yet settled custody arrangements of Bear. While Kate had her family history on her side, as well as the shared last name with her son, Ned did have quite an influential family. And for Kate, perhaps one of the hardest parts of this particular divorce is how close she had gotten with Ned’s family. She didn’t want to take Ned’s son away from him, but she had no mind to split up her children, and she could only hope when it came down to it, that there wouldn’t be much of a dispute. She wanted Ned to see Bear whenever he wanted, but she didn’t want her youngest taken from her household, and she would be using the circumstances of the day she caught him cheating to her legal advantage if she needed to. She had found her son, while in no danger and not really neglected, on his own in a play pin, while his father was in another room with a strange woman, and she wouldn't be forgetting that.

Ned had been civil most of the day; he had looked remorseful at times even, and collected, admitting to his adultery without provoking argument form Kate. It wasn’t until they were on their way out of the building, sans lawyers, that he made any kind of scathing comment, asking her how Leo’s eye was healing. For a second she had thought it might be genuine concern or a form of apology until she saw his disgusted expression. 

“Just fine, actually,” she had responded, trying to sound nonchalant. “Not even a scar.” That wasn’t true. The past five or so days had seen the bruise reduce and start to lighten at the edges, but the cut on his cheekbone would indeed scar, and Kate felt terribly for having even the slightest hand in marring Leo’s appearance. After all, in their line of work, their faces were their livelihoods. She had spent the last week plying Leo with ice and scar reducing ointments until he had gotten annoyed at her fussing. 

Upon entering her house, Kate finds a note stuck to the small table in the foyer where she usually leaves her car keys in Leo's messy cursive.

_Kate,  
Been convinced to go to Mia’s school to help with her R+J rehearsals. I Have Bear and Joe with me. Bringing back dinner. I hope everything went well._

_xLeo_

 

She can’t help but smile to herself, tucking the note into her handbag before hanging it up. She imagines Leo talking with a class of teenagers, telling stories about acting and sharing tips of the trade, all of them in rapt attention. She knows that her daughter had asked him for help, especially since he had portrayed Romeo on screen the year before Kate had met him. Her daughter’s interest in acting scares her a bit because of what she knows of parts of the on-screen world, but Kate has no doubt that she’ll be fantastic if its really what she wants to do.

The house at the moment looks comfortably lived in, but not in disarray as it had often been with Ned around. There were little bits and bobs of everyones week lying about, but no rubbish or real mess. Taking advantage of the quiet, she heads to the kitchen to open a bottle of chardonnay and pour a glass before heading to her ensuite where she draws a bath. 

She’s still in the bath, going through her script for the film and making notes while sipping her wine when she hears Leo and her kids come in. 

Leo is calling out her name, and she responds that she’s in the bathroom when she hears him step into her room where he’s still been staying the past few days. 

“I’m in here,” she calls out. The water is so full of bubbles and color from a bath bomb that nothing below her shoulders shows, not that it would matter much, so she adds “I’m fairly decent. You can come in.”

He pokes his head around the doorframe, Bear clinging onto his neck dead asleep, and grins when he sees her. “You look relaxed,” he says. 

“I am.” 

He straightens up, leaning agains the door frame so he’s half in the small bathroom now, adjusting the toddler in his arms. “How did everything go?”

“The divorce is finalized,” she responds, taking a sip of her wine. “I’m not sure how I feel about it but I’m glad its over for now. It’ll probably hit me later. How was the rehearsal?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. The idea of Leo surrounded by high-schoolers, teaching, still amused her to no end because she’s never even seen him do anything like a workshop or a roundtable. He was always so private about his craft.

“I think it went really well,” he says with a smile. “Your daughter did brilliantly, of course, and I think she may be falling for her Romeo a bit,” he responds, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh no,” Kate moans, hiding behind her hand to keep from laughing. 

“I actually really enjoyed myself. I promised them all that I would come back about once a week until opening night since I'll mostly be here anyway.”

“I'm sure Mia is thrilled,” Kate chuckles. “She gets to flaunt her cool Oscar-winning Uncle Leo.”

“Says her cool Oscar-winning Mum,” he responds, mocking her accent.

“Alright, alright. Shoo. Let me get out so I can come say hello to my kids. Did you bring dinner?”

Leo laughs. “I did, although its not the healthiest choice, so I’m not sure you’ll approve,” he says as he leaves the room and closes the door for her to dress, making her wonder. 

When she finds them all in the kitchen, she realizes exactly what he meant. Dinner turns out to be two large pizzas, and she assumes, from the cheeky look on her son’s face that he had let Joe choose the meal. She decides right then, that starting the next day they would all be eating something significantly healthier at least four times a week.

She settles in at the table, greeting her kids, and placing Bear, who is now awake and not entirely happy about it, on her lap, cutting up a slice into bite-size pieces that he can pick up with his fingers before taking a piece of her own. 

“So?” Mia asks, looking to her mother in anticipation.

Kate frowns slightly. “Ned and I are officially divorced. Not everything is settled yet, but its official. Thank you all for being so wonderful and patient this week. I know everything sucks right now.”

“Not everything,” Mia responds with a kind smile. “Uncle Leo is here, which is nice.”

“And we’ve got pizza,” adds Joe. 

Kate chuckles, looking to Leo who looks a bit smug. “We do have pizza,” Kate concurs. “and Leo.” She can’t help but wink at the decidedly smug looking man sitting across from her.


	9. Chapter 9

It’s been nearly two days now that Leo has been gone; back to London for some meetings about his upcoming climate change documentary, and to collect his things from the hotel and check out. They’ve got a month off, and there’s no sense in keeping rooms booked that aren’t being used. Plus, he was running out of clothes.

When he had left Kate she had assured him that she would be fine. She told him that she had plans to watch Joe’s rugby practice, and take Mia shopping for a dress for the afterparty of her play’s opening night, and to start packing up Ned’s things.

He doesn’t rush back. He doesn’t feel like he should. Kate needs time alone with her children: a bit of normalcy. He’s not sure that they have that while he’s around. The kids are always so excited to see him that he feels a bit like its the ‘Leo Show,’ and he has to act a part when he’s around. While he knows that all three of Kate’s now ex husbands have loved her and the kids deeply, none of them have been all too dependable for the children, and when he can he likes to try and show them that while he may not see them more than a few times a year, that they really do mean something to him, but also he doesn’t want to overstep his boundaries. After the past week, he’s not even sure what those boundaries are anymore because after being there for over a week, everything started to feel normal and routine. 

The other day he had overheard Kate’s son ask her why Leo had been sleeping in her room, the response being: “well, Joe, when you get to be my age, and you’ve known someone over half of your life, and you know, you’re not really feeling your best and maybe you're a bit sad, sometimes its nice just to have someone close by.”

It was a simple and honest answer, but Leo can’t help but think of all the subtext. They have really known each other for over half of their lives now, and really, all of their adult lives. Age has made their closeness, or perhaps the perceived abnormality of it matter much less than it used to. And yes, it is nice just to have someone close by; especially someone whom you’ve known for so long and trust so deeply. After getting used to falling asleep next to Kate for the past week, it had been hard to get to sleep on his own in a stuffy hotel room, and he’s beginning to wonder if that shouldn’t tell him something.

Apparently, their age and the passing of time have no impact on the way their relationship is perceived in the media, however, as he discovers while passing a news agent on the way to meet his hired car for the drive back to Kate’s house. Within minutes he finds himself chain smoking cigarette after cigarette in the back seat, going over the headlines for the millionth time whilst debating whether he should be calling his agent, or Kate.

One, an obvious play at older headlines, just reads “Winslet and Rocknroll Spotted Leaving Divorce Law Office, DiCaprio Seen Sporting Black Eye: Titanic Marital Disaster?” and another, “Icebergs Ahead! Husband to Titanic Star Kate Winslet Seen Out with Mystery Woman, While Costar DiCaprio Spotted near Surrey Home.”

Hate is not a word that Leo uses often. He tries not to ‘hate’ anybody, and to understand where they’re coming from when he dislikes anything. But he has found throughout his career that he truly does hate some facets of the media, and tabloids are definitely high on his list. He reads the articles, both rather tawdry speculation pieces with little to no truth, (none confirmed, anyway), but its not these that makes him the most angry; its the photos. He sorely wishes, and always has, that paparazzi photos were illegal because of how much an invasion of privacy some of them are. There are a few of Kate and Ned outside of her lawyer’s office in London last week that are truly terrible. Ned is looking very grumpy, and Kate just looks extremely tired and small. This moment, just after divorce of a five year marriage between Ned and Kate had not been meant for the public eye, and yet here it was. And then there were the handful of photos of himself; some the day before in London, walking from a lunchtime meeting with sunglasses and a baseball cap but with the bruise on his face still very visible as he looks up to cross a street, and some the week before in the small rural town near the children's’ school. They showed him, head down, leaning against Kate’s car and looking at his phone, which was fine, but thank god they hadn’t actually photographed him with Kate’s kids, or speculation would really be hitting the fan. The photos of Ned with the mystery blonde actually turned his stomach a bit, and he’s reaching for another cigarette. Ned is cozied up to her in a dimly lit restaurant somewhere in the city, just the way he had seen him act with Kate just a few short years ago, and something about the photo sits oddly with Leo. The whole picture; man out to dinner with the thin blonde model type; it could have been a photo of him, had been in the past.

He can’t decide whether to show these to Kate when he arrives or to wait. It would only be a matter of time before either of their agents got ahold of the news and called with questions. Kate’s management team was well aware of recent events, but Leo’s was not, and he hadn’t meant to get into a publicity tangle. Now though, there is absolutely no way that he would leave Kate to deal with it all on her own. 

When he arrives, he lets himself into her house on his own, having been given a key. Joe and Mia are away with Sam Mendes for the next few days on holiday, and Bear with Kate’s parents not far away so he knows he’ll find her home alone, and he does, in her room, angrily tossing Ned’s shirts off of hangers from a closet and onto the floor. He can tell she’s angry from yards away, and coming closer feels as if he’s approaching a wild animal. Surely she’s heard him come in, so he’s not afraid of startling her, but doesn’t want to intrude. He’s been on the receiving end of Kate’s anger before, and its never fun. All he can really ever do is try and get her to laugh somehow in order to calm down.

“That Bastard!” she yells, throwing shoes across the room now; nice expensive ones that Leo suspects are designer. One nearly hits him, and he dodges out of the way letting it hit the wall instead, stepping through the doorway. 

“I know he is, but there’s no need to take it out on the architecture,” he jokes, deadpan. She glances at him over her shoulder looking unamused, and goes back to taking the abuse out on Ned's shoe collection, knowing she’ll just have to pick it all up from the floor.

“He knew,” she throws a boot this time, “full well what would happen the minute the media caught wind,” - this time its a flip-flop— “and I pick up the phone to somebody at fucking Virgin Enterprises demanding that I put a stop to the media speculation because its bad exposure.” She turns around to Leo, her face red, hair wild. “He’s the one who fucking cheated and ruined everything. Why should I have to clean up the mess? You know what they’re saying, Leo? You know what it is? They’re saying that I’m the one who was unfaithful; that I cheated on Ned with you and broke up a fairytale marriage. It's absolute bullshit!”

Leo steps back at this, jaw clenched. “I guess you did see the tabloids then,” he says, taking a side step to sit on the edge of her bed. 

“Not until that phone call. This is so unfair. I have no idea how to fix this one.”

Leo shakes his head. “Me either. The circumstances really don’t look good on us from the outside.” He shakes his head, looking toward the ceiling. “I guess the only thing we can really do is put out our own press release, and try and set things straight. I’ll agree to an interview with someone; talk about how I’m here for our film and my documentary research, and explain that I’m in your town visiting and things just happened to get mixed up. Nobody can fault us for being friends, Kate, and true friends do help each other when things get rough, and happen to do perfectly normal things like stay at each others' houses.”

Kate sighs and drops the shoe she’s holding before slumping down against the wall and sliding to sit on the floor. “We can try talking to the press, but I’m really not sure how much that will help. It might just fan the flames more. I’m half inclined to leave it be. Its Ned’s own mess. He’s the asshole who cheated so he can deal with the backlash from his own family’s company. And no matter how much we try and discuss ourselves in the media, there will still always be speculation about you and I. There has been for twenty years now, for fucks’ sake. And honestly, its nobodies business how we live our bloody lives.”

“If you want I can call up a Victoria’s Secret model for a date and make sure I’m spotted out. That might calm rumors down,” Leo jests.

Kate scoffs, shaking her head, knowing he's joking but not sure how much. “Glad to know you’re prepared to shag some tiny blonde trick to save my dignity,” she quips, still looking unamused. "Ned's new girl is probably right up your alley."

“Anything to save your dignity,” says Leo, still joking, before going quiet and a bit pensive for a moment. “If I’m being honest, the last thing I wanna do anytime soon is pretend to be dating another model.”

Kate raises her eyebrow. “Leo, are you finally getting old?”

He laughs. “Nah. I got old a while ago. I’m just letting it catch up to me.”

Kate smiles wryly. “Great. I’m having a personal crisis, and you’re having an identity crisis. What a pair we make.”

“Its not really an identity crisis,” Leo insists. “I’m just… tired. I’m tired of my life being an act, and of living with no real meaning to anything. I can go out and get any girl i want to, but that doesn't mean that's what I want to do. My past few relationships, if you can call them that, have just felt so empty.” He stands, pulling her up by her hands. “Honestly, despite the shitty situations, I’ve been much more relaxed and in a better mood being here with you the last few weeks than I have been in couple of years, so maybe I need to pay attention to that.”

Kate smiles then, for the first time since he’s arrived. “Well, you’re welcome in my shambles of a life for as long as you want, but apparently it comes with some bad press.”


	10. Chapter 10

It’s late, and they’re drunk. She doesn’t think that they’ve been this drunk together since 1996, and honestly its making her a bit nostalgic for days off in Mexico, drinking shitty Tecate beer in Leo's trailer because there was nothing better to do. 

They’re sat out in her back garden, which probably hasn’t been used in a few years aside from Joe kicking a football around. With Late spring in England, its warm enough to stand but still a bit chilly, so they’re both bundled under blankets and swinging back and forth on an old porch swing, looking out across farmland dimly visible because of the moon, and god, she’s so drunk that at this point that she’s having trouble distinguishing the rocking of the swing from the swaying of her own vision, and Leo is laughing next to her in that high pitched boyish way she hasn’t heard since they were twenty and twenty-one and the sound of it is sending her into hysterics as well. They’ve gotten too serious over time, she thinks. Back then there had been so much laughter that they often had to stop takes completely to keep from wasting film. At least now there wasn't real film to waste, just time. 

After the conversations earlier they had both come to the decision to just not address anything unless it came up in questioning. None of it was really anybody’s business but their own, and even if the kids got wind of any of it, they know the truth as well. 

“You know,” Kate starts a few minutes later, once their laughter has calmed, “we have to play lovers again in a few weeks, which will probably make all of this worse. I’m not sure if that’s tragic or hilarious.”

“Its pretty hilarious. I think it’ll be fun though,” Leo says, looking off to the fields again, taking another swig of beer. “What I’m excited about for this project is the opportunity to improvise and ad-lib. I don’t get to do that much with period films and serious material.”

“Me either,” says Kate.

“Plus, we’re literally playing characters who are going through personal crises the same as us. It might be helpful. De-facto therapy, in a way. We’ll have an excuse to do crazy things we normally can’t get away with, like sky dive and get tattoos or motorcycles or whatever, even if its fake.”

“I have a tattoo,” says Kate, snorting with laughter again at Leo’s surprised reaction. 

He turns to her looking a little more sober. “No you don’t.”

“I do too,” she laughs.

“Where? When?” He seems genuinely shocked by this news, and its making Kate laugh even harder. “You actually got a tattoo, and didn’t tell me?”

“It never came up,” she says simply. “You’ll think I’m so lame if I tell you,” she hides her face in her hands, glancing at him through her fingers. “Its such a cliche thing.”

“Oh now I’m intrigued,” he says sitting up straighter. 

“I got it a few years ago on a whim. I was with Ned and the kids in Australia filming The Dressmaker, and we passed a tattoo parlor in Melbourne on a day off, and I thought, why not.”

“Don’t tell me he got a matching one,” he groans, kind of hating the thought of Kate getting a matching tattoo with her now ex husband.

“No! Thank god, no,” she laughs. “He thought I was crazy for doing it, and always hated it after. Its a little infinity symbol on my left hip, right near my panty line.”

Leo laughs a bit, because it is cliche. How many girls has he been with who have infinity signs somewhere on their body? He knows its Kate though, and she would have at least had some kind of legitimate reason.

“Why that?” he wonders aloud.

“To piss Ned off. Because I’m a bitch.” she answers, making him laugh. “He was always complaining about things that are ‘mainstream,’ and so I got the most basic tattoo that I could think of to be contrary. But also because I liked it. It reminds me that while things are impermanent, there are some things that can last forever, like my love for my kids, and that there are always an infinite number of possible outcomes to any situation, and if one path doesn’t work out I can always choose another.” 

Leo doesn’t comment on how poignant that sentiment is given everything that has been going on. He knows he doesn’t need to and that Kate already sees the irony. He also knows that were they not both incredibly intoxicated right now that she probably wouldn’t have told him about it. She has always loved to keep little things like that a secret, like the time on Titanic when she had gotten her navel pierced in Mexico City, and then had to take it out because it kept getting caught on the wet costumes. Leo hadn’t known about it until he became concerned one afternoon after spotting a tiny bit of blood on the front of her soaked dress. 

“Can I see it?” Leo asks, and she stands, blanket draped over her shoulders, and pulls down the hem of her lounge pants slightly, revealing a little black looping infinity right under her pelvic bone. Leo runs his finger over it once, feeling how the skin is raised slightly from the ink, before dropping his hand and letting her sit again. 

“Its nice,” he says, genuinely meaning it. Despite being cliche, it fits Kate. “Maybe I’ll get one.”

Kate snorts a laugh again. “An infinity symbol?” She asks.

“No,” Leo says, chuckling. “A tattoo. I’ve thought about it, but have never been able to bring myself to go through with it. When we do that scene in a few weeks, I’ll do it.”

“Alright,” Kate says. “I’ll believe you when it happens.”

She yawns, and lays down on the bench-like swing, placing her head in Leo’s lap, looking up at him while he stares out across the fields behind her house, his right hand coming up to play with her hair. She had missed this; this calm and unspoken understanding. She doesn’t need to be switched on around him, and she loves that, and knows that he feels the same. She tells him so, and the smile she gets, is, for lack of better words, heartwarming. 

Maybe its the alcohol, or maybe its just time, but he talks truthfully now. “All these years, when I’m being completely honest with myself, you’re the only person that I’ve ever felt completely at ease with. I can be my weird, disordered self around you without judgement, and I love that. I’m never this honest around anybody but you. I kind of wish we could just do this forever.”

“Do this?” Kate asks, with her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of his fingers running through her hair. “Sit out in my back garden and get exceedingly drunk?” She peeks up at him with one eye open, and he knows she's joking. She gets what he’s trying to say. “We can keep doing this, if you want,” she says, eyes closing again. “At least, until its not what we want, which I don’t see happening anytime soon on my end.”

He nods quietly, feeling as if they’re teetering on the edge of some significant agreement, and he knows that he can be blunt with her. “I think I do want that. Kate, I’m not saying that I’m in love with you or anything. I love you like hell but I genuinely don’t know if I can be in love with anybody because I’ve never figured out what that means, but I definitely don’t want to leave anytime soon, and I feel more like myself around you than anyone I’ve ever met and being close to you and your kids just feels right. So, if you want me to, if its okay, I think I’d like to stay around and see if this goes anywhere.”

“I don’t think that I can be too great at any relationship in any capacity right now, Leo. Not so soon. but if you’re willing to stick around, I'd love for you to stay.”

He can’t help the lopsided grin that covers his face, nor the joke that would probably become a reality. “The media is gonna have a field day with us acting like an old married couple,” he laughs, and she joins in the laughter, not sure what they've just agreed to. 

Its so late when they go back inside that it may as well be morning, and they find themselves clumsily dropping into Kate’s unmade bed with both of their heads swimming with the alcohol, and unlike every other night the past week or so where they've slept close but back to back, he does move to pull her a little closer this time, letting her rest her head on his shoulder instead where she’s nearly asleep already, and when her hand comes to rest on his chest above his t-shirt he smiles to see the ring he had given her back after the wrap of their last film resting on her finger where it has sat for nearly a decade now, and fights to ignore the marks from her wedding band which aren't yet close to fading.


	11. Chapter 11

Just as Kate hadn’t been that intoxicated in years, she hasn’t had a hangover this oppressive in an equally long time. The very last thing she wants to do this morning is answer the door to her ex husband, but she does, knowing that she has to; that doing anything but answer would be a bad idea if she had any hope of keeping things even slightly amicable between them. 

She’s still in her sweats from last night, hair a complete mess, and wrapped in a dressing gown as well, having only been awake for a quarter of an hour, and of course, Ned is dressed and polished and ready for the day, even holding out a hot drink for Kate as she opens the door, which she suspects is her usual. Being taken aback by his appearance at her house let alone his thinking to get her a coffee, which is probably the most thought he’s given her in a few weeks, or maybe even months now, is throwing her for a loop.

“Ned. What are you doing here?”

She fights to keep her voice neutral, not that she’s particularly angry yet. She’s not awake enough to be angry, and her head hurts too much. 

“I’ve come to get some of my things. You’re usually up by now on a Sunday so I figured I’d just drop by… I texted, and tried to call…” He holds the coffee out to her again, waiting for her to accept it before stepping over the threshold and into the spacious house. 

“I’ve been taking a break from my phone” she states, giving up and finally accepting the drink. Maybe coffee would help her pounding head. Her statement, while not entirely true, wasn’t false either. Having spoken to her children the evening before, even the little one, and re-affirming when they would be dropped back home, Kate had plugged her phone in in the kitchen and hadn’t bothered to look at it since, thinking that with the couple days’ break no one would even try and call her. If it were an emergency, they would call the house. She truly did want a break, at least, from the internet and all of the trash stories about her life.

“A break.”

“Yeah. Well, I did tell you that Bear would be with his grandparents this weekend.”

“So you did.”

Ned is looking at her, studying her. Suddenly he’s walking towards the back of the house, towards the kitchen, and she can do nothing but follow him. When he gets there he leans against the counter, near where her phone really is plugged in, showing her the messages that had piled up as if to prove a point, and watches her as she settles against the island countertop across from him, her arms crossing in front of her as she sips her coffee, sizing him up in the same way. 

“How are Joe and Mia?” he asks. “How is the play coming along? Did Joe’s side win the rugby match?”  
Kate raises her eyebrow. Is he trying to be endearing by showing that he remembers what is going on with her children? Is he egging her on or is he genuinely curious? 

“The play is coming along well, with the help of Leo, and Joe’s side did win the match on Friday, although I’m surprised you care. I can’t remember the last time you went with us to a game.” She couldn’t help slipping mention of Leo in, even if it was petty.

His expression does change from the calm neutral it has been to looking genuinely upset. “Leo’s still here then? Isn’t he rich enough to but a hotel, let alone rent a room? Better yet, doesn’t he have a house of his own, on another continent?” He asks, in a flat tone. 

“Where else would he be?” she asks. “We were supposed to be filming a movie until all of this happened. And since this is my house, I can have or not have whomever I want here.”

“I’m not even surprised. You know, I expected to at least find you a tiny bit sad at everything that’s happened, Kate, but I guess with the lovely Leo around that’s not possible.”

“You know, Ned, I think in my grieving of our marriage, I’m rather still in the anger and denial stage, but I’m sure I’ll get to the sadness and acceptance if you would give me the bloody chance. Instead, you’re just making me even more angry. If you actually cared about my wellbeing, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Of course I care, How can you think that little of me, Kate?” He pauses for a moment, rubbing at his temples. “Look, I know I fucked up, but I did spend five wonderful years in this family.” His calm breaks, and he’s yelling again. “I treated your kids as if they were my own for years, Kate! Don’t I deserve at least a little credit here?”

Kate’s gaze hardens, and she pinches the bridge of her nose, turning her back on her ex husband and setting down her drink in order to search the cabinets for some pain relievers, which she takes before turning back around. Ned’s face is red and he’s looking at her expectantly. He’s clocked the empty beer bottles on the counter, his own eyebrows raising. There are a lot of them. 

“Fucking hell, Kate. Are you hungover?” 

She doesn’t respond. She doesn’t need to. 

“You sent my kid off to his Nan’s so you could go on a fucking bender? Is this a joke? And you’re the one who’s filing for complete custody?!”

Kate closes her eyes, willing herself to stay calm, but knowing that her own anger would bubble over at any time. 

“You know full bloody well that this weekend had been planned for the kids weeks in advance so that Sam could have time with Joe and Mia, and OUR son is with his grandparents because we had planned to have a little holiday of our own, or had you forgotten? Necker Island. Remember that?” Her voice has taken on a sickly sweet patronizing quality that sounds foreign to her own ears. “But instead, my husband, whom, yes, did spend five wonderful years with my family and did treat my kids as his own, decided somewhere along the line that I wasn’t good enough, and this life wasn’t good enough, and so he cheated, continually, with a woman half his age, and I happened to come home from work and find them fucking in our marital bedroom with our toddler playing on the floor in the next room, and so yes, I feel as if it is perfectly alright to have some fucking beers with my best friend within the safety of my own home on a Saturday night after a particularly shitty month, if it’s all the same to you. Why don’t you go take her to that fucking island. ”

Ned’s face is red and turning redder as he tries to contain himself. Its a few moments before he risks speaking. “I came over not only to get my things but also to see how you were. I see now that that was a mistake. I thought that maybe we could talk about all of this in a more civilized way but I guess not.”

“Talk about what, Ned? We’re already divorced. Its done. I'm not going to continue a relationship with someone who threw it away so easily. I'm not living with a cheater.”

“Look, Kate, I know I messed up but I still feel like five year of history is enough to at least chance some kind of reconciliation. I’m not expecting you to take me back, but I at least want the opportunity to explain my side of things.”

“Alright then, Ned. Explain. Why her? Why did you even feel the need to see someone else when I was so willing to give you everything? Why would you even want to be taken back, Ned, when you would have to give up that lovely little girlfriend of yours.”

Her head hurts so bad, and she just doesn’t understand the point of any of this bickering. She wishes that he would just get his things and leave. She see’s Leo out of the corner or her eye standing near the entrance to the kitchen, hair wet from a shower, and he raises his eyebrow, a silent question of whether she’s okay, but she just gives an almost imperceptive nod and looks away again before Ned can notice his presence. She doesn't want a repeat of the last time the two had met. 

“You were obviously unhappy with me, Ned.” She can’t help that her tone sounds a little defeated. She is defeated, in a way. “You told me so a million times without ever really saying it explicitly. I tried so hard to fix it all, every time, but it never worked. If you hadn’t been unhappy you wouldn’t have cheated, so why on earth would you ever want back in?”

Ned steps forward, just inches away now with his hands on her shoulders, and with the remorseful expression he’s wearing and the way he’s looking at her now, she can almost see the man she married; the man whom she’s had such a hard time reconciling with the stranger she had seen with another woman in her kitchen two weeks ago, and the monster whom had entered her home in the middle of the night yelling profanities, and the empty shell that had signed the divorce papers across a table from her earlier in the week. Now that he’s this close, she’s finally seeing how all of these facets of him are one in the same and she had missed it before. He really had never been happy with her, at least not since before their marriage, and now she sees it, and she tries not to hate herself for it.

“Because I’m starting to realize that by losing you, I’ve lost everything. I’m sorry, Kate. I should have paid better attention. I should have tried harder. You haven't even given me a chance to explain. I love you, Kate.”

She shakes her head, eyes closing to keep from tearing up. “No, Ned. You don’t. You didn’t. You haven’t for a long time. If you had you would have never had an affair.”

His eyes flash with anger again, and his hands on her shoulders tighten almost painfully. He has always hated being contradicted. She can see Leo still standing near the doorway, looking wary. When she looks back up into Ned's face, its with anger of her own. 

“You know, Ned,” she says, not breaking eye contact, “You may as well take an Oscar with you, too. I think you may be a better actor than I am. You had me believing you for so long, and you almost had me again, a moment ago. I am so done with your bullshit.”

His face contorts, and Kate doesn’t even have time to react as his hand collides hard with her jaw, and she’s reeling sideways at the sudden pain and shock, knocking into the countertop behind her. Ned seems to realize what he’s done immediately and he’s stepping back, as Leo runs forward in-between the two of them.

Leo’s face is suddenly just as red as Ned’s is, his Jaw tight as he yells. “Get out of here! You get the fuck out of here, Ned!”

The British man looks like he’s about to argue again, and thinks the better of it, but does step forward trying to get around Leo, saying Kate’s name, trying to apologize and see if she’s okay.

Leo steps forward again, placing a hand on Ned’s chest to keep him from getting any closer to Kate. “Get the fuck out of this house Ned. She’ll send you your stuff.” Leo’s voice is low and serious, almost a warning, and thankfully Ned listens, leaving without a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is still more of this story coming. Please comment! Its nice to know that someone is actually reading. :)


	12. Chapter 12

When Leo turns back around to face Kate, she doesn't seem all there. She’s leaning against the countertop looking past him into a middle ground, not hearing him ask if she’s alright. Her thoughts are elsewhere, as if she's completely transported from the current moment. Shocked.

“Kate!” he says for the third time, trying to get her to meet his eye, and her attention finally snaps to him. “Are you alright?”

She puts her hand to her cheek, as if to test if she is, and shakes her head. “No. It doesn’t hurt much, but no. I’m not okay. I’m sorry. Excuse me.”

She’s walking around him, past him, into her bedroom where she closes the door rather harshly. He’s smart enough to know that as much as he wants to make sure she's alright, now is not the time to follow.

He hadn’t heard the whole conversation, but he had heard enough. Kate had every right to be upset. Leo still hadn’t wrapped his head around the drastic changes in Ned. The man he had met several years ago had been perfect for Kate. He had been and genuine, and honest guy who had seemed to have her best interests and the best interests of Kate's family in mind. Leo would have never let himself be talked into walking her down the aisle if that weren’t the case, and yet Ned had cheated on her and given away a life and a family that any man, Leo included, would be honored to be a part of, and he had become bitter, and manipulative, and apparently even violent in the process. It didn’t make sense, and if he couldn’t understand it, he can’t imagine how Kate must feel. He’s glad that she had stood her ground though; proud of how strong she is. He just hates how often in her life she has had to be so strong.

Unsure of what else to do at that moment, he cleans up the kitchen. They had left some plates and bottles out the night before, too intoxicated to bother with washing up. He clears away the bottles first, dumping them into the recycling bin outside of her garage, before washing and drying each dish and pan by hand, wanting to kill time rather than shove them into the dishwasher. Still unsure of what to do with himself, and not yet wanting to interrupt Kate’s privacy, he brews himself a cup of coffee and settles on oatmeal and some fruit for breakfast before sitting at the table to go over his script some more, glad that he’s not feeling the affects of a hangover like Kate had been.

They now had just over two weeks until filming, and he has found himself looking for tiny ways to develop the backstory of his character in his mind, to give it more depth, and also to try and separate the story some more from his current reality; their reality, but he's been finding it increasingly hard to focus on the material. He’s not sure if he’s falling for Kate all of a sudden after so many years, if there has always been something that he has ignored, or if it’s just a hope and need for comfort and stability that his adult life has lacked, but the longer he's here with her and trying to help her with her current situation, the more he finds himself feeling emotionally invested in a way that's probably not normal for a standard platonic friendship. The further he reads into his script and character, who's internal dialogue for the film has him noticing small things about the woman he's falling for: the way her hair hits her shoulders, the crease at the corner of her mouth when she smiles- it has him noticing these things about Kate in ways that feel more significant than if she were just any costar. At first he had thought that maybe these new feelings, whatever they were, were just coming from the now prolonged process of getting into this character who falls in love over the water cooler, but the more time he spends with Kate and her kids, the more he realizes that whatever his feelings are, they’re real, and they're scaring the shit out of him.

Their conversation last night definitely hadn’t helped him figure any of it out, but it had helped him make the decision that no matter what happens, he does want more comfort and stability in his life. He’s happy here in a cozy family home, and he’s happy around Kate. Whether its her that makes him so happy, or the way he is around her, or the both of them bouncing off of each other, he figures it doesn’t really matter. The dynamic he's felt with her has always been different than with other people he's worked with, and he finds that this time he doesn’t want to just film a movie for a few months and get close again, and then let it go for the next ten years. He’s also finding himself getting more and more wrapped up with her children and their lives, and he would really like a genuine relationship with them instead of just showing up loaded with gifts twice a year to hear their mother gush about their accomplishments. He wants to be there for those accomplishments instead. He wants to be a part of it all.

He absolutely loathes that Kate is hurting, and he has never been so incredibly angry at any human as he is toward Ned at the moment, but he knows he can't do anything about it. If he did it would only make it worse for Kate and her kids, not to mention the media, so he’s resigned to just be here, and help them in any way he can, a day at a time.

Nearly two hours have passed now, during which he’s done more thinking than working, and he finally decides that maybe now its okay to abandon his scripts for the moment and check on her. When he knocks on the door, he can hear her give a small hum, taking that as an okay to enter. She’s laying in bed facing the other wall, her dyed mousy brown hair a mess against the pillow.

“Are you okay?” he asks, not knowing what else to say. She gives him a withering look over her shoulder, silently letting him know what a stupid question it is, before turning back to the wall. He makes his way over to the bed and climbs up over top of the blankets and settles sitting upright against the headboard. If she doesn’t want to talk, he won't make her, but he doesn’t think she should be alone to stare at a wall and think about her ex husband for any longer today than she already has. He’s worried for her. He hasn’t seen her cry once in the past few weeks, and normally she was a blubbering mess at the tiniest of things. He had been there when things with Sam had dissolved, and he distinctly remembers her going through an entire box of kleenex in an evening.

“I’m being a bitch. I’m sorry.” She turns toward him, and he glances down, hoping to catch her gaze.

“Babe, if there’s ever a time in your life to be a bitch, its now.”

She gives a little chuckle, and he feels as if he’s won the lottery.

“I’m not trying to take it out on you, I promise. I just— I’m so angry!” she goes quiet for a moment and then adds “and sad. I thought this marriage was it, you know? I really loved him, and now I feel like I never even knew him, and that’s scary. I never once thought he was capable of hitting me. I mean, what if I don’t really know anything about the people I love?”

“I don’t know everything about the people I love,” he responds, letting his hand fall to her hair, smoothing it out a bit. “I didn’t know you had a tattoo, for example. Or that you would even get a tattoo.”

She frowns, and he continues. “If we knew everything about the people we loved we wouldn’t have any fun spending our time with them. It would get boring pretty fast.”

“I guess that’s true. I just— I felt like I could trust him, and its turned out I shouldn’t have, and now I can’t help but go over all of the hints in my mind; all of the little red flags— every single time he evaded a question, or didn’t come home, or his temper flared.”

“You don’t need to be blaming yourself, Kate. He’s the one who screwed up. It sucks that you were on the other side of it, but none of this is your fault. He’s obviously going through something and compensating by cheating on the most wonderful woman I know and having some kind of personality crisis, and that’s on him, not you.”

“But if he is going through something, and changing this drastically, doesn't that make me a bad wife for not noticing sooner? I should have caught on to all of this ages ago."

Leo sighs. "Kate, I think you did. The first thing we talked about when I got to London was how off things were with your marriage and how you wanted to work things out. You knew that something wasn't right and were willing to figure things out. It's his fault that he's fucked things up so completely."

"I can’t let him near Bear unsupervised. Something’s wrong, Leo. I’ve never seen him lose it like that, and if it can happen again, I don’t want him near my kids. I’ll have to push to get custody clauses before visitation can happen, and I really didn’t want this divorce to get so messy. This is going to cause such a media storm, and its completely unfair.”

“It is unfair, and I’m sorry. You won’t be alone, though. The media can have a field day and speculate all they want and things will probably get worse before they get better, but like I told you last night, I’m not going anywhere.”

She looks up at him again. “So you meant it last night? Staying… all of that? It wasn’t just the beer talking?”

“Yeah, I meant it. I was drunk, but I was being serious, Kate.” He leans his head back against the headboard, eyes closing. “Look, I’m not gonna beat around the bush here, I want you to know that I really do genuinely want to stay. I’m not saying all this because of the divorce, or because I feel like I have to or its what you want. I realize that I’m probably being extremely selfish, but I just— I’ve enjoyed being here. I’ve enjoyed feeling like I’m a part of a family for a while, because I haven’t really ever had that. I’m almost forty-two years old, and as crazy as the past few weeks have been, its been the most settled I’ve felt somewhere in a really long time, and I’m still living out of a suitcase, so that’s saying something..” He pauses, looking back down at her. Her head is resting on his leg now, and she’s picking at a stray thread on her duvet.

“I also feel like I should be here for you,” he says, catching her gaze when she looks up. “I know you can take care of yourself just fine, but… well, you’re my best friend. You have been for almost twenty years. I really do just like seeing you every day— waking up to you every morning, falling asleep next to you; just being around you has been so nice.” He pauses, debating on whether he should go on, and decides that if he can’t be open with her, then who?

“I’ve been with a lot of women. You know that. And I’m not necessarily proud of it. But with so many women, in and out of my life, I’ve never really let myself care about anyone before. We’re not even together, and I find that I care more about you, and your wellbeing, and your kids, more that I have ever cared about any of my girlfriends and so I guess that should be a pretty obvious tip-off that this is right, especially right now. I don’t want to say that none of those girls meant anything, because that would be a discredit to them, but none of them have ever meant as much as you and our friendship.”

Kate's eyes are full of unshed tears when he looks back down at her, and he notices a red welt on her cheek from earlier. It's not quite a bruise but still looks painful, and he wants to touch it, to sooth out any pain that may be there, but doesn't. 

"I'm so glad you're here, Leo. I really don't know what I'd do without you right now. I don't think I could possibly deal with all of this alone."

"You won't have to."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments recently! I know the updates are few and far between, but I am still figuring out where I want this story to go. I appreciate all of the support! Thanks again!


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